


Somehow, I'm Intact

by KaytiKazoo



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blow Jobs, Hand Jobs, Identity, Leo Fitz & Skye | Daisy Johnson Friendship, Multi, Multiple Selves, Road Trips, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:40:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27016663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaytiKazoo/pseuds/KaytiKazoo
Summary: When Fitz gets back from space, it's to the love of his life married to another version of himself who is still alive. Deciding he no longer fits in the life he'd once envisioned, he sets out and finds a home in two old friends, Bobbi and Hunter.
Relationships: Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons, Leo Fitz/Lance Hunter/Bobbi Morse
Comments: 10
Kudos: 30





	Somehow, I'm Intact

_ I’ve been bruised and burned _

_ But somehow I’m intact _

_ All the times I thought _

_ I’ve might have reached the end _

_ I’d do it all again _

-Everything I Did  to Get  to You by Ben Platt

“I’m going to get back to her,” Fitz  had  told Enoch, cruising through space. The plan was off the rails, and Fitz had no idea how he was going to get back to her, but when he did, he was marrying Jemma Simmons and putting an end to this curse once and for all . It became a mantra for him, what kept him going. He’d see her again. He’d hold her and kiss her and see her smile again. It had been a long time since he’d seen her, sitting beside her at the diner before the team just vanished. He’d gone to jail, contacted Hunter, broken out of jail, and frozen himself so he could wake up in the future to save the team. Except...

He just had to keep faith that he’d make it back to her, back to everyone. This would just be a fun story he’d tell her when they were reunited again. 

When he saw her on  Kitson , it was  something out of a daydream. He wasn’t sure when she’d gotten bangs, but they looked good. She could have shaved her head bald and he’d think she was completely gorgeous. It had been almost two years since they’d parted. He’d never been apart from her for that long. Not once since they’d met. There had been those months when she  was undercover at Hydra and the months when she was on  Maveth , of course, but two years... No, this was a different beast. They’d been side by side since they were sixteen in the Academy. He had no idea how she was there before him, and he thought for a moment that she must be a hallucination, his brain injury acting up from the stress of it all, because Jemma was supposed to be in the future.

But then, then he could touch her, locked in the mind prison beside her. Her skin was soft under his hands, and he nearly cried wrapping her in his arms. Two long years without her. It was so good to be beside her, to speak with her, hear her tell him a story. It didn’t matter that this was some prison designed by the  Chonicoms . She was  _ there _ . They were engaged, she’d said yes, he’d kissed her. Nothing mattered more than that.

Except...

There was always an except with them. How could there be anything else?

Jemma had gone to the future with him at her side and they’d saved the future and the Earth, and they’d gotten  _ married _ already. The other him was at home resting and recovering after an accident that nearly killed him.

“Jemma,” he said, staring at the memory of Jemma and himself, this other  self pale and bandaged in his hospital bed. He’d turned the corner trying to find her, and there she was, next to him. They were wearing wedding rings, her hand clasping his, kissing his knuckles. He remembered all of their moments together, but this one… this one wasn’t his.

“I didn’t want you to find out like this,” she said, extracting herself from the memory which kept playing out without her. 

“Like  _ this _ ? Were you going to tell me at all? Were you going to wait to get home and introduce us? Oh, this is my husband, and his spare in case anything happens to the first one?”

“It’s not like that! You’re not a spare!”

“No? Because you already got married, Jemma. And you let me propose to you! You got married, and I wasn’t there, I missed that, and you’re  _ still _ married because your husband is still alive. Why are you even  _ here?  _ You’re married to him, and you’re out here, searching for  _ me _ ?”

“I couldn’t leave you out here. You’re my husband, Fitz.”

“I’m not. You married that one, that Fitz, while I was on an alien ship trying to survive.”

“I love you, Fitz, you’re not some spare.”

“I can’t.”

He stepped away from her, and blinked away the tears. 

“I can’t,” he repeated. “We’ll get out of this together, but then, then I don’t know.”

They did. They always did. They were unstoppable, and they could do anything. Even escape a prison built in their minds.  But together, their minds could do anything.

* * *

When they stepped back on the Zephyr, Fitz let his fingers trail across her metal hull. This was his child; he’d designed and built her from scratch. Everything about the Zephyr, he had created, obsessed over, and carefully brought together. But it wasn’t just the ship. 

Seeing Daisy again was  a balm on his skin. Her hair had grown longer, and she’d highlighted it with purple. He was so glad to see her,  because Daisy meant home. Daisy had always meant home since they met.  He’d mistaken that feeling for romantic love once, but he knew better now. 

“Daisy,” Fitz said, “holy shit.”

He pulled her into a hug, and buried himself into her shoulder with a laugh.

“I was starting to think I’d never see you again. It’s been so long.”

She froze in his arms, and he released her. That had never happened before, she’d always sunk into his arms or hugged him hard back, and he didn’t know what it meant. Was she hurt? Was she in pain? What couldn’t he see?

“Everything okay?”

“I, you’re – I’m okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay.”

He wanted to put his hands on her face, and kiss her forehead, and remind her that they were family, and it was okay now because they were together. But her expression was cold, and wary, and  _ hurt _ . There was a bone deep ache, because he knew that look of hurt, and he knew somewhere inside of him that he had caused that. Not himself, as far as he was aware, but that other him. The real him. 

“What did he do to you?” Fitz whispered. She flinched and stepped away.

And then she pasted a fake smile on her face, and pretended like it hadn’t happened at all.

Fitz had to swallow against the ache, the idea that he had hurt her so bad that she couldn’t even look at him, didn’t want him to touch her. It didn’t matter what he had done, or the reasons he had done it. She was his family; how could he do that?

When they got back to Earth, and he met himself, he was going to punch him in the face. He didn’t care if the other him was  injured. There was no reason Daisy Johnson should look at him like that. He’d punch him, and he’d deserve it. That he was sure of.

* * *

It was a long journey back to Earth. 

Daisy kept her distance, and he let her. 

He kept his distance from Jemma, and she let him.

It was awkward, and lonely, but Fitz was used to it. It was familiar. He’d been alone for so long, what was a couple more months?

* * *

When they landed back on Earth, Fitz cried. Jemma held his hand, and he let her. 

“Come on, they’re going to be so happy to see you.”

The hugs felt weird. Mack lifted him up off the floor with a hug, and his back popped, and it felt nice , but foreign after so long .

“Okay, okay, too tight,” he wheezed out. 

“Sorry,” he said, letting him down. “It’s so good to see you, Turbo. Look at you.”

“I’m sure you’ve seen a lot of me,” Fitz said. 

“Yes, but it’s still good to see  _ you _ .”

Fitz couldn’t understand that, but didn’t argue. 

He avoided meeting himself, staying away from their room, from the lab, from the control room, but he was running out of places to hide. Finally, Jemma caught him sneaking from the common room.

“You,” she said, “are avoiding me.”

“No,” he replied. “I’m not.”

“Well, you’re doing a great job of it.”

“I’m not avoiding you,” he said, “but  I am avoiding  _ him _ .”

She let out a sigh.

“He’s you, you know,” she replied.

“At some point, we stopped being the same person.”

“No, you’re still Leo Fitz. You’re both Leo Fitz, the man I love.”

He shook his head.

“And,” she continued before he could interrupt, “I think you should meet him. It’s going to be uncomfortable. I know that. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth it.”

“I can’t,” he started, but she gave him a look. 

“Please.”

He could never deny her anything ever, and despite his protestations, he followed her to the lab where they found him. He was leaning against the lab table, hovering over a design. 

“Fitz,” Jemma said, and he looked up from his design. His eyes fell to Jemma first, the way that Fitz himself knew well, and then slid to him.

“Oh,” he said, and he took the cane up to move away from the lab table. 

Fitz took a step back, but Jemma reached out and grabbed his wrist before he went too far. 

“No,” she said firmly, and he stopped. “Come on.”

He held his sarcastic  _ yes, dear  _ to himself, and she led him into the lab. 

“This is weird,” he said. The other him nodded. 

“This is really weird,” the other him replied.

“See, you’re getting along already!” Jemma said, forcing her chipper voice. “Great first step.”

“Jemma,” he and the other him said simultaneously, and then looked at the other with a scowl. Jemma just grinned at them. 

“I don’t expect you to be best friends, you know, but you  _ are _ the same person, regardless of what either of you thinks, and I think that you should at least try to get along. So, this is a first step towards that.”

“We can try,” he said, and the other him nodded his agreement.

“You’re free to go, then, continue avoiding us,” she said, patting him gently on the cheek. It was such a familiar gesture, Fitz almost cried. 

“I have some things to do anyway,” he said, nodding at his other self, turning and leaving. He didn’t know where he was going, but he couldn’t stay there no matter what.

* * *

As much as he wanted to give her space and respect the distance she put in between them, he needed to know.

“Daisy,” Fitz said a few days later , walking up to Daisy where she could see him coming, and touching her wrist gently, “can I talk to you?”

She looked at him, startled nonetheless, and looked him over. He watched her eyes dart to his hands, first to his left for the ring and then right for the cane that his other self needed. Then, she let out a breath when she realized they were absent.

“Sorry, Fitz. Still getting used to this.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“I thought you were – but you’re not, so,” she said. “Yeah. Come sit.”

Fitz sank into the seat near her but not close enough to make her uncomfortable.

“Jemma won’t tell me what happened, says that that’s between us, and I’d have to ask you. And if my best friend didn’t flinch whenever I touched her, I’d just let it go, but I can’t stand the way you won’t look at me.”

Daisy frowned and looked at him, searching his face.

“He hurt me, and violated my trust.”

It felt like a punch to the gut, and he let out a slow breath to process that.

“I didn’t want the inhibitor removed, but he strapped me to a table and cut it out of me while I begged him not to.”

Fitz watched her, the intentionally slow breaths she took in and out, the tear shine in her brown eyes. There was a part of him capable of hurting Daisy, and he suspected he knew exactly what part of him that was. 

“He said he had to do it, that it was the only way.”

Fitz wanted to march to the lab where he’d seen himself with Jemma – and apparently, a stowaway from the future named  _ Deke _ who was their grandson. He was trying not to think about that too hard. The point was, he wanted to go punch him. How could anything be so dire that it was worth hurting Daisy? He couldn’t imagine that.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry he did that. There is absolutely no reason he should have done that. He could have found another way, and I am so sorry.”

She stared at him, taking in his face and his expression.

“He never apologized. He said he’d do it again because it was necessary. But he never apologized.”

“What an asshole,” he said.

She laughed and swiped her hands underneath her eyes to collect wayward tears.

“You can be,” she agreed, “but thank you, Fitz. I appreciate you coming here. I appreciate you attempting to make up for his – well, I appreciate you coming, and caring enough.”

“I missed my best friend.”

“I thought I could never forgive you, or – him,” she said.

“You don’t have to. I wouldn’t. I don’t know how you can look at me.”

She reached out and held his hand, sliding his fingers between hers.

“I know you’re the same person, you have the same parents, the same memories. I know that, but the minute he cut into me, I – I don’t know, Fitz. He stopped being  _ you _ .”

“I swear to god, I won’t ever hurt you like that,  Daise . I will go out of my way not to. I give you the permission to quake me out of existence if I try. You deserve better than that.”

“Well,” she said, “we can start with watching a movie with me tonight? I don’t really want to be alone.”

“Oh, absolutely. I haven’t seen a movie in two years.”

“Oh! Oh, that’s right! We’ll have to start with the big releases you missed!”

He grinned, and she smiled sweetly back. It was a step in the right direction, a small one but good, just as Jemma had always said. 

* * *

The realization came all at once, laying in his bunk, staring up at the ceiling. He ached to be with Jemma, and the fact that she was so close was maddening. She’d tried to convince him to come to bed with them, to try and become a part of their lives, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t lie next to himself, see their wedding rings in the dish by the bed, knowing he’d never share that with her. So, he stood up, and decided. 

“I can’t stay here,” he said that night , standing in their room, Jemma on one side of the room while the other him, the real him was easing himself down into the bed with the aid of his cane. “This room, this bed isn’t big enough for all of us, and I don’t just mean that literally.”

“I can love you both,” Jemma said. 

“That’s not –”

“Fitz, I don’t want to let you go,” she said, stepping into him. He couldn’t stop her,  and he  didn’t want to. He loved her so much, he never wanted to let her go. 

“I don’t belong here, Jemma.”

“You belong with  _ me  _ the same way you always have,” she argued. 

“And I will be,” he said, gesturing towards himself, the other himself, sitting on the bed with the cane resting against the mattress nearby. “I shouldn’t even be here, right? One of us shouldn’t exist, and you married  _ him _ __ so it’s clearly me who needs to bow out.”

“Fitz,” she said. 

“You won’t even know I’m gone,” Fitz said, and he took her hands. He hated the tear-shine in her eyes, the way her lower lip stuck out a little to keep her mouth from trembling. “For you, I won’t. You’ll still have me. He’s here for you . And I know he always will be, because he’s me, right? So, you’ll always have him.”

She couldn’t dispute it, not without making it clear she had a preference. 

“I will miss you, Jemma, I will, and I will always love you, but I can’t be an extra part that comes in a building set in case you fuck up.”

“You’re not –”

He drew her in and kissed her forehead, slow, letting his lips linger against her skin , letting himself enjoy this and memorize her just for a moment . 

“You’re still my best friend,” he said, “and I love you. I will always love you, okay? If you need me,  you can call me and  I will come, but I can’t pretend like I belong here.”

“Fitz, don’t,” she whispered.

“I don’t want to. I don’t want to leave, Jemma. Don’t make this harder than it already is.”

She stared at him with wide, wet eyes, and he wanted to kiss her until it was okay, wanted to promise that he wouldn’t leave, that they could be together forever, that they’d finally have their happily ever after.

He stepped back, though, and she didn’t reach for him. He ignored the feeling of the other Fitz’s eyes on him , because he knew what he was thinking, at least that isn’t me. Another step, another, another. He reached the door, and turned, and left.

* * *

He sat on the bed in  his spare bunk where he belonged , his phone out in front of him. 

“Just call,” he said to himself. “Just call. She’s your mother.”

It took another ten more minutes of waffling before he pressed dial. She picked up on the third ring the way she always did.

“Hello?”

“Hey Mum,” he said softly.

“Oh, Leo,” she cooed. “It’s so good to hear your voice, love.”

“It’s good to hear yours,” he agreed. 

“It’s been so long. I almost forgot what your voice sounded like, my boy.”

“Sorry for waiting so long, Mum.”

“That’s okay, you’re calling now.”

“I am.”

He paused, and she let out a quiet laugh, the best sound in the world.

“What’s the occasion for your call?”

“I, there’s some stuff I have to tell you, and I don’t know where to start.”

“Start from the beginning,” she said, the way she always had when Fitz didn’t know what to say. “I’ve got the time.”

“Okay,” he said. “From the beginning, then.”

He explained, as much as he could, the journey he’d been on with SHIELD. She asked the right questions at the right time, and Fitz loved the way his mother always cared, even if she didn’t always understand what he was talking about. She would ask until she did, though. 

“So,” she said when he paused again, “there’s two of you. I have two sons now.”

“Yeah,” he said, because that’s the best explanation for it. “There’s the Leo that went to the future and married Jemma, and then there’s me, who went to space and back.”

“What a blessing.”

“Mum,” he said quietly.

“No, it’s a blessing. Hear me out. I had you, and I loved you so much that I didn’t want or need any more, and your dad certainly didn’t want any more. But hearing that I have two sons, two  Leopolds , that’s the best news you could have given me.”

“What?”

“I don’t know what your brilliant mind has been doing since you found out, darling, but I can imagine you’re worried that you don’t belong, or that you shouldn’t exist, or that you’re some, some _ thing _ that is a mistake, but I need you to know that I do not believe that. I do not believe you are anything less than absolutely perfect. I was blessed with you when you were born, and I am blessed with you now.”

He let out a quiet sob, and covered his mouth.

“Oh, baby,” she said softly.

“I’m okay.”

“I know. What do you need?”

“I need a name.”

“You have a name, love.”

“I know, I know. But in order for me and him to both exist in the world, Daisy is going to forge me an identity. He can stay Leopold James Fitz, and we’ll be noted as brothers. So, I need a name. Was there another name you had picked out for me?”

“Well, your father chose Leopold, as you know,” she said. “His grandfather was from Germany, and he loved him  very much. That’s where Leopold came from. But I always wanted to name you after my father, your grandfather.  Tàmhas .”

“ Tàmhas ,” he repeated. “Middle name?”

“James, still, actually. That was the only thing your father and I agreed on.”

“ Tàmhas James Fitz.”

“Yes.”

“Yeah,” he said. “That’ll work. Thank you, Mum.”

“You’re still my Leo, even if you’re someone else to the world. You will always be my Leopold, the little boy with a wonder for the world, an endless curiosity, a mind for the ages. You are my boy, now and forever.”

“Thanks, Mum.”

“Come visit me, Leo,” she said, “whenever you want. Find a place for yourself first, or come find me first. It doesn’t matter. I’m always here for you.”

“I will, Mum.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

* * *

“Fitz,” Daisy said as he shouldered his bag. “What’s up? Where are you going?”

“I have no idea yet,” he said, sinking into the chair beside her. “But I have a name now, if you could create me  that new identity.”

“I can,” she agreed. 

“ Tàmhas James Fitz,” he said. 

“Staying a Fitz, then.”

“I don’t know who else to be, or what else to be. We could play it off as twins, I suppose, same birthday, same face, same interests.”

“Okay, let’s see what I can do.”

She set to work, while he watched. 

“You want to be older brother, younger brother?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at him.

“Older, obviously.”

“Thought you might say that.”

Slowly, together, they built a whole new life laying parallel to the life Fitz had lived.  Tàmhas James Fitz was born 17 minutes before Leopold James Fitz, the average time it takes for twins to be born, had gone to the same schools, equally as genius as Leopold himself, but instead of joining SHIELD,  Tàmhas went on work as a private consultant to different corporations, building alongside great scientists. Daisy thought of everything, forging him a cable bill, a phone bill with a call history to his mum, his brother, his best friend (including herself so they could keep in contact afterward).

Daisy printed him a civilian ID, and started a bank account where his job – which was really just SHIELD in disguise, thank you, Daisy Johnson – would make direct deposits. She was so good at this, it was scary. She was so good that Fitz could begin to doubt that he had ever been an agent of SHIELD and not this fabricated civilian engineer.

“Can you do me one more favor?” he asked.

“For you? Absolutely.”

* * *

He found them at a motel in Arizona. Well,  _ Daisy  _ had found them. She’d also booked him a commercial flight with a window seat since he couldn’t be seen landing anywhere near them in a  Quinjet , or god forbid, the Zephyr. He did say goodbye to the old girl before he left, walking underneath her belly one last time. He knocked on their door, bag slung over his shoulder, and when it opened, he felt like crying. Bobbi Morse was just as tall, blonde, and gorgeous as the last time he’d seen her in the bar, toasting their goodbye from afar. 

“Fitz?” she said, looking around. “You can’t be here. If anyone finds out we’re in contact with SHIELD –”

“Well, luckily, I’m not Leo Fitz, and I’ve never been SHIELD. I’m just an old friend that you met at a science conference once, remember?”

She cocked her head to the side.

“ Tàmhas Fitz,” he said, holding his hand out to her. She shook it carefully, watching him with a furrowed brow that he wanted to smooth. “Mind if I come in?”

She let him in and he was met with Hunter and a hug, and Fitz sank into his arms gladly. It had been less time  since he’d seen Hunter but still long enough that he felt like he might break apart if Hunter let go. 

“Hey mate,” Hunter said, “you look good. Glad you made it back.”

“I’ve got so much to tell you,” Fitz said.

“I bet. Come in, come in.”

Bobbi closed the door and came up behind them, wrapping Fitz up from the other side, sandwiching him between them. He felt safe, and felt warm for the first time in months, in years. He hadn’t felt warm since he’d stepped into that chamber, the chill settling into his bones, long after he’d thawed. 

“It is good to see you, even if I’m confused,” Bobbi said.

“I’ll tell you everything, just don’t let go yet.”

“We won’t,” Hunter said.

“We’ve got you,” Bobbi added. He wanted to tell them thank you, that he’d chosen them for a reason, that he knew they’d welcome him without qualm. But he couldn’t find the words, and for the first time, that was okay, too.

* * *

They ordered burgers and chips delivered to their room from a local shop down the street that Hunter would not shut up about. Fitz had kicked off his shoes and dropped his jacket over a chair with Hunter’s, climbing into the single king-sized bed. He couldn’t talk yet, not about him or what had happened in space, so instead they told him about their adventures.

“There was this one job,” Hunter said, dragging a chip through the  ketchup on the wrap between the three of them.  “Bobbi went undercover as  this nanny in order to get access to this CEO's home office, and she would come home  with Cheerios in her hair, and  Bobbi  _ hates _ kids.”

“I do not,” Bobbi cut in, but Hunter waved her away.

“And this guy, this guy was so stereotypical that we waved a smoking hot nanny in front of him, and he fell right into our trap.”

“That’s true. He liked to look down my tank top just like every other mark in the world.”

Fitz laughed, and it felt good to laugh, warm, and comforting. 

“Men are gross,” Hunter said factually, popping another chip into his mouth with a smile.

“Of course,” Fitz agreed. 

“You two are good,” she said. “I like you both.”

“Oh, shucks,” Hunter said. “You’re very sweet.”

They were quiet, and Fitz finally said, “I was the  righthand to the head of Hydra.”

“What?” Hunter and Bobbi asked at the same time. Fitz popped another chip into his mouth and thought about where to start.

“After you left, some stuff happened, but there was this, this creation, the Framework, that the team was loaded into by a, a – her name was AIDA, she was artificial intelligence that I helped Radcliffe build. Anyway, she built this world where she changed the team’s regrets, and she made it so Hydra ruled, and she was Madame Hydra , and she and I were together .”

He paused, picked up the soda nearby, and took a sip to clear the dryness from his tongue.

“There’s a whole other life in my head, where my father raised me, and I was known as the Doctor, a sadistic man who tortured  Inhumans and did experiments on innocent people. He’s still, he’s in here,” he said, touching his temple. “He’s a part of me, and I can hear him sometimes.”

“What?” Hunter said. “Are you okay?”

“I am,” Fitz said. “I’ve always had hallucinations since my brain injury, especially at the beginning and when I’m stressed. Nothing serious, honestly, nothing my medication can’t take care of. But he still lives in my head.”

“Well,” Hunter said, “that doesn’t mean we don’t still want you around.”

“Thanks.”

“Can we fast forward to  Tàmhas ?” Bobbi asked. “I want to hear all about it everything in between, but my curiosity is killing me.”

“That’s a little bit of a long story, too,” Fitz said. 

“We’ve got time.”

“Okay,” he said. “We might need a drink for this.”

“I’ve got that,” Bobbi said, reaching over the side of the bed and grabbing her bag. Inside there was half a bottle of whiskey. “Present cups, baby boys.”

Hunter and Fitz both opened their sodas and held them out. She poured enough into each and then into her own. 

“Okay, Fitz,  _ Tàmhas _ ,” she said. “Let’s hear it.”

He stirred his drink, then took a long drink, and started.

“The last time I saw you, Hunter, I was going to sleep until 2091 where I would meet up with the team, and help them get back home. I can’t tell you much about that, because I was woken up not long after, and spent nearly two years in space. During which time, I learned an alien language, and – well, I  did what it took to survive. Jemma came and found me, but this was after she had married me in the other timeline, the one where I went to the future and back, saved the world, and was nearly killed by a building collapse.”

“Excuse me?” Bobbi asked.

“I’m, I’m getting there. Hold on. This story isn’t really linear.” They gestured him on. “There is a me with SHIELD right now, the official Leopold Fitz, married to Jemma Simmons. I’m in recovery, and use a cane to get around, and it makes me extremely ornery, but I  saved the lives of our allies and our team, so it was a sacrifice I’d do again. I’m still at Jemma’s side where I thought I’d always be. There is also me, here, with you, at the same time.  This me went to space and did impossible things even to my own  imagination in order to get back to Jemma just to find out that she’d already married me and there was no room for me there. Daisy and I created myself a new identity so I can live on my own , and he can live there . My name to the world is  Tàmhas Fitz, I am Leopold’s older twin brother , a consultant for  science labs on engineering safety .”

“So, we aren’t in contact with SHIELD because  _ you _ aren’t SHIELD ,” Hunter said. 

“ Yeah. Like I said, we’re just old friends, met at a science conference a while ago. Any connection to SHIELD is confidential and coincidental. ”

“I like that,” Bobbi said, resting her chin in her hand while she sipped at her drink. “I like being able to see you , Fitz . I missed you. ”

“Yeah, me too.”

She grinned at him, and he smiled back.

“ Okay, okay, back to the story. You were a fake Nazi in a fake world.”

He laughed, and it felt so good. His next words came easier, this little pocket away from the rest of the world safe from judgement, from trauma, from  fear. Bobbi and Hunter were there for him, and could catch him if he needed. But for once since the Framework, since even earlier when Ward had betrayed them so completely, he felt like he didn’t need it.

* * *

They slept curled up around each other in the king-sized bed. Fitz had tried to say he’d go book himself a room to give them time alone, but Hunter had caught him by the belt loop and Bobbi had pat the bed next to them.

“I don’t think you’ve had enough people interaction yet,” she said. 

When he woke up, he was sandwiched between them, Bobbi curling against his back, her hair in his mouth, and Hunter had molded his back against Fitz’s stomach, the curve of his ass right up against Fitz’s very obvious erection. He was so warm, a radiator heating the bed, and Bobbi’s breaths were soft against his neck, that he drifted back to sleep without care.  For the first time in years, since the Framework, since  Ward’s betrayal, since going on in the field basically , he hadn’t slept  so well.

* * *

“We’ v e got a job in Massachusetts,” Hunter said a few days later. “If you’re coming with.”

“ Do you want me to?” Fitz asked, looking up from where he was fiddling with Bobbi's phone to  upgrade it. 

“Well, yeah,” Hunter said. “As long as you haven’t had enough of us yet.”

That’s not possible, Fitz thought.

Instead he said, “nah, not yet.”

Hunter grinned, and  turned back to where he was packing Bobbi's bag while she handled some details of the job.  He paused, and then turned back to Fitz. 

“Can I ask you something?”

Fitz set the phone down, and gave Hunter his attention. 

“What’s that?”

“Why us?”

“Oh,” Fitz said. “ Uhhh . I hadn’t really considered why. I just, I had to get away, and I knew I could trust you and Bobbi. And after everything, I could use a little trust.”

Hunter nodded. 

“I was just curious,” he said. “You could have said that you missed looking at my ass, and I’d have been okay with it.”

Fitz laughed, and told him to fuck off, and pointedly ignored the way his ears burned a little bit at that. Instead, he focused on the phone upgrade, and had it ready for Bobbi when she came back in, grinning.

“We going?” she asked, looking at Fitz but directing her question to Hunter.

“Yeah, we’re all going,” Hunter said. 

Fitz pointedly did not notice how pleased Bobbi looked, and how pleased he felt in return.

* * *

It was an incredibly long drive from Arizona to Massachusetts.

“Remind me why we’re not flying?” Fitz asked as they packed up the little sedan Bobbi had found. 

“Guns,” Hunter said. “It’s not like we have a Zephyr to dart around in inside of American airspace.”

“Right.”

“Besides, I like the views,” Bobbi said. “There’s nothing better than a little highway road trip with the windows down, the music up high, an iced coffee in one hand.”

Fitz smiled at how free she seemed. Being away from SHIELD seemed to do that to people, free them, lighten them. Maybe Fitz would understand that someday. 

“And she gets motion sick on planes,” Hunter added with a cheeky grin.

“I do  _ not _ ,” she said. “I just, I get a little nauseated.”

“That’s the same thing, love.”

“It is not.”

“It really is. It is nausea brought on by, if you’ll guess, motion, therefore,” he said, trailing off. 

“I’ll throw you out of the car on the highway,” Bobbi said.

“Do you get car sick?” Fitz asked.

“No. It’s just a mix of motion and pressure,” she replied. “Not that it’s motion sickness, but what I experience, which again is not motion sickness, tends to be caused by those two things.”

“I never noticed, you know, before.”

“Oh, Jemma gave me something before a mission,” Bobbi said.  As expected, the mention of Jemma  twinged at his heart, but he took a deep breath, and reminded himself that this was what was best for her, and for himself. They’d become codependent over the years, and maybe he could learn more about himself as a person without her,  even more so when he wasn’t on an alien spaceship pretending he wasn’t human just to survive . Not that he wanted to, of course, he’d been nice and cozy, content, in their life before. 

“ You’re okay,” Bobbi said, setting her hand on his where he’d stalled.

“Sorry,” he said, clearing his throat louder than necessary. “I’m sorry. It’s harder than I thought to be away from her.”

“Understandable, and completely valid. You were friends for a decade before you were ever together; of course, it’s hard to be separated. And self-imposed, as well,” she said. She glanced at Hunter who gave her a half smile, quick and then gone. “I can’t blame you for that. I couldn’t do it. The only reason I could step away from SHIELD was because I had Hunter at my side.”

Maybe that’s why he was here, he thought, because it was easier to step away from something you’d known for so long if you had the right person, or in this case people at his side. 

“Come on,” Bobbi said. “You can be shotgun while I drive.”

Hunter didn’t protest as they loaded into the car, finally headed to Massachusetts. Bobbi didn’t say anything as she backed out of the spot, and then took Fitz’s hand, threading their fingers together. They didn’t mention it, and Hunter didn’t either, and Fitz had never been so glad.

* * *

They drove for a few hours to a playlist that Hunter had made, and then switched at a rest stop off the highway. 

“Do you want me to go in the back?” Fitz asked as they stretched. Bobbi had to pee, and Hunter was getting water from the vending machine.

“Nah, you’re good where you are,” Hunter said. 

“Are you sure? That doesn’t seem fair.”

“We’re sure.”

Fitz frowned, but took the water bottle Hunter held out to him. When they got back in the car, Hunter wordlessly took Fitz’s hand, and they didn’t talk about that, either. 

* * *

“Okay, let me drive, for fuck’s sake. I can drive, you know. I’m not an invalid,” he said as Bobbi tried to take the driver’s seat again at the next switch nearing dinner time. They looked at each other and he held his hand out to Hunter for the keys. “Give.”

“We don’t think you’re an invalid,” Bobbi said, “but we didn’t want to stress you out. You’ve been through, well, some shit, and you deserve a break.”

“Driving a car is not stressful,” he said. “I can handle driving on a highway. I didn’t join you guys to be some freeloader. I can at least drive the getaway car.”

Hunter handed over the keys, and said, “don’t crash the car, then.”

Bobbi took the front seat, Hunter in the back, and Fitz put his hand out for her, which she took without a word. 

* * *

They booked a motel room in a small town off the highway for the night, and ate pizza from a terrible pizza parlor nearby. They watched terrible late-night shows that felt like they belonged in another universe from Fitz. He was out of touch with the pop-culture cycle, so an actress with a pretty smile walking across set with a wave to the audience was so foreign to him. 

“Ever want that?” Bobbi asked, nodding towards the television.

“A movie career?” Fitz asked.

“Yeah,” she said.

“No, I’m not a very good actor,” he said. “Or I suppose I wasn’t before all, everything.”

“I’d be a fantastic actor,” Hunter said. “I’d charm the pants off anyone in Hollywood.”

Bobbi rolled her eyes at him and hit him with a pillow.

“What? I could.”

After, they curled together in the intentionally-booked king-sized bed the way they had in Arizona with Fitz book-ended between them. Every night that they spent like this, Fitz learned a little more about them, piecing together what he had known with these new versions of them he had met in that motel in Arizona. Bobbi nuzzled in her sleep, and had a tendency to wake up with her forehead pressed into his spine. If he woke up first, he could usually feel her breath through his shirt, steady and even, calming. Hunter did not like the big spoon position at all. Fitz had gotten up one night to pee and cool off from their boiling heat, and had crawled back into bed in front of Hunter. Hunter had woken him up an hour later by crawling over him to put himself in the right spot, grumbling the entire time. 

That night, he tucked himself in between Hunter and Bobbi right where he was starting to belong. He was still hesitant to share all of what he’d been through, not wanting to scare them away, but knowing them made it easier. Knowing that Hunter didn’t like pickles, and knowing that Bobbi snored just a little bit, all of it made this seem real. He knew that Bobbi had a tendency to stick her hand up his shirt in her sleep, palm flat against his chest, although he suspected that was a habit of sleeping with her husband in front of her instead of, of  _ him _ , whatever he was. The little things that he was compiling, they grounded Fitz in the present, in this moment, in this body. He didn’t feel like some other here. Somehow, without words, as if no time had passed, they felt like pieces of him he’d been missing all along. 

* * *

“Fitz,” Bobbi murmured near him in the morning. “Fitz, wake up. Fitz.”

He groaned and pushed back into her, towards the voice. She laughed, and it was such a melodic sound. He, for half a second, thought it was Jemma there with him, but reality crashed in immediately. 

“Wake up, sunshine,” Bobbi said. “We brought breakfast.”

“Mmm, breakfast,” he mumbled. 

She waved a hash brown in front of his face to get him up, a tactic that always worked for anyone. Bobbi was sitting behind him, holding out a McDonald’s bag in one hand and the hash brown in the other, hair left loose around her shoulders. She was wearing shorts and a t-shirt that rode up on her hips, her long legs were crossed underneath her. He had a moment where he couldn’t look away from her, the domesticity of this moment freezing him. But then, she smiled and everything slotted back into place for him. 

He took the food, and started on the hash brown. Jemma would berate him for the shameful amount of fast food they’d eaten in the past few days, as you did on the road, but – Jemma wasn’t there to do anything. Jemma was at home with her husband.

“Fitz, can you drive first today?” Hunter asked, flopping onto the bed and nearly into Fitz’s lap. Fitz, for a second, wished that he had. “I didn’t really get to sleep last night.”

Fitz looked at Hunter who looked right back at him unflinchingly. There was something more tired than normal about him, his smile a little weaker, and his gaze unfocused.

“Everything okay? Was it something I did?”

“Oh, no, love,” Hunter said. “I just get bouts of insomnia, always have, ever since I was a kid.”

Fitz had never noticed, which made him feel like a shitty friend.

“I got some rest,” Hunter assured him. “Being near you, and Bobbi, it helps. If I were alone, I wouldn’t have relaxed enough to get any rest, but you and her, here with me, I could settle, so you don’t have to do anything different.”

“Okay.”

“Except stop trying to put me in the middle.” 

Fitz laughed.

“You and Bobbi are really hot, and it suffocates me some times.”

“We’ll get a thinner blanket,” Hunter said. “But I can’t sleep any other way.”

“That’s okay,” Fitz said. “I’m perfectly fine where I am.” 

Hunter smiled at him, and then reached up to brush a crumb off the corner of Fitz’s mouth. His thumb lingered, and Fitz forgot how to breathe until he moved away. A flash of panic burned hot through him, realizing that he didn’t mind Hunter touching him, or cuddling up with him, or the desire to kiss him. Not only did he not mind, he actively enjoyed it. Fitz hadn’t felt like that for a man before. He hadn’t really felt like that about anyone, outside of Jemma. He’d had a vague crush on Daisy at first, but that had faded and now she was like his sister. He’d found Ward attractive, and Trip, and Mack. 

Ahhh , he thought. He was certainly less straight than previously believed.

He forced himself to look away from Hunter, cheeks burning, and took his sandwich out of the bag to focus on that instead. He grabbed his phone while he ate to see if Daisy had texted him overnight, which she had, a gif of a dog on a skateboard that did not pertain to any recent conversation. She did that to make it seem like they had inside jokes from a long, close friendship.

** Tàmhas ** : Can I ask you a question?

** Daisy ** : You’re up early for it being your vacation

What’s up?

** Tàmhas ** : You’re bi, yeah?

** Daisy ** : Extremely

** Tàmhas ** : I think I might be too?

Daisy called him, and he excused himself to the bathroom away from Bobbi and Hunter, shutting the door behind him and turning on the fan.

“You’re what?” Daisy asked as a greeting. 

“I could be wrong,” he said. “It’s just that Hunter is really attractive. And I just realized how many of our team I found attractive.”

“Oh! Mack, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Definitely Trip. He was too cute.”

“Yeah, him too.”

“Ward?” she asked.

“Him, too.”

There was a pause before she said, “Coulson?”

“God, no! Gross! He’s like our dad!”

“I don’t know, maybe you have a thing for older men, for dads.”

“Daisy,” he scolded.

“Right, sorry, sorry,” she laughed, and she didn’t sound at all sorry. “So, Hunter’s so pretty he made you realize how gay you are.”

“Yeah, basically,” he said. “I don’t know what to do about it, though. I still love Jemma, obviously, but he’s got these eyes, Daisy, and fits perfectly against me, and –” 

“What was that last bit? Have you been snuggling with him?”

“Possibly,” he said. “We might sleep in the same bed at night.”

Daisy made a noise he couldn’t quite describe.

“With Bobbi, too?”

“Yeah.” 

“You’re living the dream, babe,” Daisy said. “Are you okay with that? Being into men, into  _ him _ ?”

“Yeah, I think so. I just – I wanted to talk to someone. And you’re my best friend, you know.”

There was a quiet moment before Daisy said, “yeah, you’re mine, too. I miss you.”

“I miss you, too,  Daise ,” he said softly. “Everything okay there?”

“It’s – no, but we’re working on it. It’s good to hear from you regardless.”

“Take care of yourself, Daisy.”

“Kiss your boy if you can, Fitz.”

He hung up and looked at himself in the mirror, smiling.

* * *

“How’s Daisy?” Bobbi asked as they packed up the car again.

“Good. She’s been an amazing help since I came back, and I kind of miss her, or – no, I really miss her. I’m worried about her, but she’s good.”

“That’s good,” Bobbi said. Hunter was in the room, giving it a once over to make sure it was cleared. “So, you know that we could hear you, right? In the bathroom.”

“Oh,” Fitz said. “Fuck.”

“Yeah,” she said slowly.

“I don’t mean anything by it,” Fitz started. “I know you’re together, and I don’t want to be in the way of any of that. I was just hit by this realization that I’m not straight, and – I’d rather not talk about this, I think, actually. It’s really new, and he’s very attractive, but you’re together and I’m unfortunately very in love with Jemma still.”

“I don’t blame you,” Bobbi said. “It’s okay that you’re attracted to him, and to men in general, and I’m not angry at you. I get that, how that feels. I just wanted to touch base with you. See how you’re feeling about all of this.”

“Oh, god, I don’t even know,” he said, leaning against the door of the sedan. “Relieved, I guess. I’ve been so lost recently but having that piece in place feels, it feels good.”

She smiled at him and leaned against the door with him, hip touching his.

“Freeing?” she asked.

“Yeah! And, honestly, like I’m different than the other me, the real one with Jemma.”

“You are real,” Bobbi said, eyebrows furrowed.

“Yeah, I know that. I get it. It’s hard to differentiate me from him, though.”

“There is. You’re you, and he’s him.”

He shrugged and looked to the room where Hunter was stepping out, pulling his leather jacket on. He looked unfairly gorgeous in the summer sun, and Fitz was stupid for never realized his attraction before. 

“I don’t know how to be me,” Fitz said, tearing his eyes away from Hunter.

“We’ll help you,” Bobbi said, kissing his temple. “We’ll figure it out together.”

* * *

** Tàmhas ** : Don’t die. I still need to see the last Lord of the Rings movie, and I refuse to watch it without you. 

Daisy didn’t text him back that afternoon, which was expected, but still worrying. He tried not to dwell on it, but they’d gone through so much together that his mind wouldn’t shut up about what could be going wrong back with the team. They’d switched seating at lunch so Fitz was curled up in the backseat. He twisted the string on his hoodie and looked at his texts again. When there was no update, he switched to his photos and found a photo of him and Daisy that Jemma had taken on one of their earlier missions, when she was Skye still, the Bus in the backdrop.

“You okay?” Hunter asked, twisting in his seat to look at Fitz. He was unfairly flexible, and Fitz wasn’t strong enough to keep his eyes to himself. “You’re quiet today.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I’m worried about the team.”

“That’s the hardest part of leaving, isn’t it? Not knowing if everyone’s okay, if they need help, if someone got hurt because you weren’t there to stop it.”

Fitz locked his phone and said, “I guess I don’t have to worry, though. The real Fitz is still there with them.”

Hunter frowned and unlatched his seat belt. Without another word, he climbed into the backseat and into Fitz’s space.

“You’re not any less real than he is,” Hunter said gently. 

“How do you know that?”

Hunter reached out and took his hand, slotting their fingers together, and held it up between them as if to show him.

“Because I can touch you, and you’re here. You’re  _ real _ , and so is he; neither of you are any less real or alive because the other exists. In fact, it’s a miracle.”

“My mum said something similar.”

“And your mum was right,” Hunter said. “You wouldn’t be here with us without him, and he wouldn’t be there with them without you.”

That wasn’t true, but Fitz didn’t argue.

“And you can still worry about the team. You’re allowed, even if there’s someone there with them. He’s not you, Fitz, even if he is.”

Fitz narrowed his eyes at that.

“You’re the same person up until a point, until you went into that  cryochamber , and woke up at different points in time. You became different the moment he made it to the future, and you were woken up at some point. You experienced different things, and learned from them, and grew. You’re different now than you were then. Even he’s different than he was, but you’re still real.”

Hunter leaned in close and kissed Fitz’s cheek, lips lingering against his skin.

“This is real, Fitz.”

Fitz’s breath caught in his chest, and he looked at Hunter, so close to him. He could see the gold and brown in his hazel eyes, staring at him unflinchingly. 

“I will keep telling you until you believe me, for as long as you need me to.”

“That’s a lot to ask of you,” Fitz said.

Hunter slung his arm over Fitz’s shoulders and tugged him in close.

“I’m willing to put in the work for you, Fitz. I always have.”

“You have?”

“ Mmhm , since the day we met. You were prickly, and defensive, and I wanted so badly to see you smile, or hear you laugh.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” he said simply.

Fitz hadn’t noticed that before, that Hunter was there, trying to make him feel better. He had been pretty self-absorbed when they’d met, still recovering from his brain injury, and wrapped up in his anger and grief over Jemma. 

“I was a dick to you,” Fitz said.

“Yes, but that’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Yeah, it is. You had a lot going on, and you weren’t always a dick.”

“I was enough of a dick, though. Why’d you stick around? Why’d you keep trying?”

“Because I’m stubborn, and curious, and I don’t give up that easily.”

Fitz frowned.

“And you seemed worth it,” Hunter said quietly. “You’ve always been worth it, Fitz.”

He rested his cheek against Hunter’s chest and Hunter in turn snuggled around him. 

His own shield.

* * *

Holding hands with them felt like strangely natural, as if they were made for it. They took turns at who got Fitz’s hand, or who got to snuggle him. It was sweet, ultimately unnecessary because he had two hands, but sweet nonetheless. He liked it, actually, the warmth and comfort of being anchored to someone else. He hadn’t had that in so long. It was so easy to just snuggle around them, tuck himself into their space.

“Fitz,” Hunter said softly, shaking him awake in the backseat of the car. “Hey, babe, wake up.”

He grumbled.

“It’s dinner time,” Bobbi said. “Wake up.”

“Dinner?” Fitz asked, peeking his eyes open. Hunter smiled at him. “I’m dinner.”

“Oh,  _ you’re _ dinner, huh?” Hunter asked cheekily. 

“Shut up,” Fitz muttered. “I meant, I’m down for dinner.”

“No, no,  _ you’re  _ dinner, you said it yourself,” Hunter teased. “I could certainly eat you up.”

Fitz could feel his blush hot along his cheeks, and he shoved Hunter off playfully.

“Fuck off,” Fitz said. 

“Dinner,” Bobbi reminded them. “Where do you want dinner?”

“Is there tacos?” Fitz asked, leaning into Hunter again, as Bobbi turned on the signal and took the exit off the highway. “I would like tacos, if possible.”

“Yeah, we can get you some tacos,” Bobbi said. “Tacos sound great.”

Fitz smiled at her in the rearview mirror, and she winked at him. Bobbi always had his back, and Fitz loved the way she smiled at him. She was bright, and wonderful, and made Fitz feel warm all over. He wasn’t sure what to do with that, but he knew he wanted to stay in that warmth.

* * *

He woke up in the middle of the night, tucked right between Hunter and Bobbi, awkwardly hard from the dream he’d had. Of them. And him. In this bed, Hunter’s lips on his chest, Bobbi kissing him. He’d felt their skin underneath his hands, and heard them breathing heavily. It was the way they said his name in the dream, that’s what really startled him, how real it was, and how much Fitz liked it. He  _ really _ liked it.

It was the first sex dream he’d had of someone other than Jemma in years. 

Hunter pressed back into Fitz in his sleep, and Fitz forced himself not to whimper. He had to get out of the bed before, well, just before. There was just enough room between him and Bobbi to climb over her carefully, and head for the bathroom. If he were home, in his bunk, this wouldn’t be a problem, but a roadside motel was not exactly somewhere he could just  wank and take care of this problem. He grabbed the towel and headed inside. If they woke up and asked, he’d just feign insomnia thanks to his nap earlier, and he’d act like a shower helped settle him. He could do that. 

He closed the door behind him, and rested against it for a moment. Was he really about to do this?  Wank in the shower while his friends slept in the room? It wasn’t like he had any other choice, though. He couldn’t go back to bed with a raging hard on that they caused. Well, not directly, but fantasies of them had. That wasn’t their problem, of course. He was the one with a boner and a fantasy. 

Motel showers were never pleasant, but it would do, warm er and  stronger than most at least. He leaned  against the wall  in the spray and considered  to  himself  if he was really going to do this. 

The image of Hunter and Bobbi in the bed flashed through his mind, and he groaned. He slipped his hand down to his cock, and grasped it  firmly. 

“Fuck,” he murmured into the  tiled wall as he stroked himself slowly .

He imagined  his hand as Hunter’s instead, that he was  tucked behind Fitz,  lips against his neck.  He  wanted them there, Bobbi pressed up against his side,  dragging her nails down his chest the same way she sometimes  scratched his scalp when they were cuddled together. She would look so beautiful  with water dripping down her skin, rolling over her nipples and down the lean line of her stomach. Hunter , too. 

Fitz twisted his  hand around the head of his cock . 

Hunter nuzzling into the crook of  his neck,  murmuring sweet little praises,  telling him he’s a good boy, he’s so beautiful. Fitz didn’t know he liked that, but in Hunter’s  voice, he’d be into anything.  He’d feel so good up against Fitz, his erection against Fitz's ass.  He’d make Fitz feel so good, stroking him the way he liked perfectly.

“Fuck me,” he groaned again. 

Bobbi could turn him towards her and kiss him, her bare breasts against his chest, her hand curling around his hip. Being sandwiched between them, that was the real dream, the real fantasy. That’s how they slept, that’s how they’d fuck him for the first time. He’d love to get one of them in the middle at some point, watch them come undone underneath their touch. 

But the things they could do to him first, hands sliding down his skin, all the places he hadn’t been touched in years. 

He tried to stifle his moans, but his number of orgasms in the past two years had been painfully low, and he couldn’t keep quiet any longer. 

The first name out of his lips was Hunter’s, picturing how Hunter would look on his knees in front of Fitz, the water playing over his exquisite features, how Hunter’s mouth would feel wrapped around his cock. God, he was beautiful, and he’d look so,  _ so  _ obscene with a cock ,  _ Fitz’s  _ cock in his mouth. 

He had to grip the bar to keep himself standing, knees weak at the idea. 

What ruined him was the image he conjured immediately after of Bobbi down with Hunter, her hand sank into Hunter’s hair, taking turns at stroking and sucking Fitz. 

Bobbi’s name tumbled out of his mouth next as he came, pleasure coursing through him, big and bright and all-encompassing. For a moment, he wasn’t sure that he was human anymore, just a bundle of nerves laid bare to the world. As he came down, he leaned into the wall, forehead pressing into the tile. He breathed slowly, trying to slow his heartrate. 

“Holy shit,” he muttered, letting the water wash away his cum. “Jesus Christ.”

Slowly, he washed his hair and body, and reluctantly got out of the shower. Outside of the shower was the reality where he’d just gotten off to two of his best friends sucking him off in the shower together. He didn’t want to face that reality yet. He felt weird, and embarrassed, but also guilty because Jemma Simmons still existed in the world, whether or not they were together, and he’d been so loyal for years to her. It seemed wrong to jump ship so easily.

Except, these weren’t new feelings, were they? No. He’d been attracted and interested in Bobbi and Hunter since the day they’d met. This wasn’t new. It was the first time his thoughts had wandered this far, because every other time, he had thoughts of Jemma to consider instead. This wasn’t new.

He toweled off and redressed in his sleep clothes, drying his hair as best as he could. This was stalling, he knew that, but he didn’t want to go out there and face them, even if they were asleep. 

The room was still dark as he stepped out, thankfully, and he shut the light off in the bathroom. He crept over to the bed and climbed in right back where he’d been previously. Once in place, Hunter immediately moved back to fit right up against him. Fitz sighed and tucked his face into Hunter’s back, content to at least live in the fantasy for a little while longer.

* * *

In the morning, Hunter had left to get breakfast while Bobbi showered. She was done before he got back, brushing her hair while sitting in a towel at the foot of the bed.

“Hey,” Bobbi said, turning to him as he finally shifted out from  underneath the covers. He hadn’t been willing to get up yet. 

“What’s up?”

“Are you okay? You’ve been quiet all morning and won’t really look at us.”

“Oh,” Fitz said, forcing himself to look at her even as his cheeks burned hot, remembering how her bare skin felt in his dream, and in his fantasy. “Yeah, I’m fine”

“Did we do anything wrong?”

“No! Not at all,” he said, leaning forward and grabbing her hand where it rested on the bedspread. “You guys have been great.”

“Does it have something to do with your shower at 3AM, then?” Fitz sucked in a breath quickly, and then she continued with her confirmation, “and the fact that you were moaning in your sleep?”

The question was quieter, gentler, a little more delicate.

“Maybe,” he said quietly. She trailed her fingers up his arm and kept her eyes trained on his face. She was so beautiful, and Fitz couldn’t understand this. “I don’t want to make it weird. You’re not – it's not your problem.”

“It could be,” she said . “It could be if you wanted it to be.”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet. I don’t even know if I ever will be.”

Bobbi nodded.

“That’s okay. We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, anything you’re not ready for. We just enjoy you being here.”

Fitz watched her fingers on his skin.

“I don’t know what to do,” he whispered. “I’ve not felt like this for anyone except Jemma in such a long time.”

“I get that.”

“But I also don’t want to leave you guys.”

“You don’t have to. We like you being here, where we can look after you.”

“You don’t have to –” 

“We want to. You’ve been through hell, Fitz, and you survived. If we can take care of you, we will.”

“I don’t know what to do about that, either.”

“Well, you’re doing great at it,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve been allowing us to take care of you anyway, letting us hold your hand, and pay for your food, and you sleep in between us.”

That was true, Fitz thought.

“I hadn’t thought of that.”

“I bet after so long alone, you’re not used to being taken care of or looked after, so let us know if you need us to back off.”

“I don’t need that,” Fitz said quickly. 

“I know, but okay quickly can turn into too much.”

Hunter let himself into the door with a bag of food and a tray of cups, whistling to himself. He grinned at them as he found them. 

“Good morning, loves, I come bearing sustenance.”

“What a good provider,” Bobbi teased. “I should get dressed. Don’t eat my hash brown, Hunter.”

“Too late. Ate it in the car while I was in traffic.”

“You’d better be joking,” she said, standing up and heading to the bathroom with a change of clothes. “I’m not afraid to murder you and leave you for the maid to find.”

“That is just rude, after everything we’ve been through.”

She shrugged at him and closed the door. Hunter sank into the bed with Fitz and started dishing out their food. He left Bobbi’s hash brown in the bag with a cheeky wink at Fitz.

“Did Bobbi get you sorted, then?”

Fitz froze mid-chew and unattractively asked, mouth full of biscuit, “what?”

“What? Bobbi wasn’t the only one who heard you last night,” Hunter said.

Fitz groaned and dropped his head, forcing himself to chew and swallow so he wouldn’t choke.

“I’m flattered, myself. I do like when people moan my name.”

Fitz was glad he’d swallowed the food first because he would’ve died in a motel off the highway eating a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit sandwich from McDonald’s. 

“You don’t have to be embarrassed . I don’t mind, and Bobbi doesn’t mind. I know you’re still in love with Jemma, and that’s probably extremely confusing for you. You can find us attractive, and sexually appealing, and also love her. You are capable of both, and what you feel for me, or Bobbi, doesn’t detract from what you feel for Jemma. Your love and attraction aren’t a pie chart where the more you love someone, the less you’ll love someone else.”

He paused, looking Fitz over slowly.

“If you want us to  _ help _ with anything, we’re extremely willing, but we can give you the space to take care of it yourself .”

Fitz took another bite to avoid having to answer. He hadn’t blushed this much in years. 

“I don’t know what I need,” he said after a minute, Hunter quiet while he chewed and swallowed. “I don’t know what I want.”

Hunter nodded.

Bobbi came out from the bathroom dressed, hair pulled up into a bun away from her face since she hated her hair down in the car, strands constantly blowing into her mouth. She sank onto the bed beside them and looked at the food spread out between them.

“Where’s my hash brown, Hunter?”

“I told you I ate it.”

“Fitz,” she said, turning her eyes on him. Fitz was weak to big, sweet eyes, and a lower lip pouted out ever so slightly.

“It’s in the bag,” he answered.

“Fitz,” Hunter scolded.

“Thank you, Fitz,” Bobbi said, kissing his cheek, lips lingering a moment against his skin. He almost leaned into it, but kept himself still despite himself. He hated that he couldn’t just enjoy this, couldn’t just let himself sink into what they wanted to give him. 

She snatched up the bag before Hunter could take it first and got her hash brown out with a tongue stuck out at Hunter.

“If you need time,” Hunter said, drawing Fitz’s attention back to him and their conversation he’d kind of hoped they’d dropped, “to figure it out, we can give you that. We don’t expect anything from you.”

“Why?” Fitz asked, voice sticking in his throat.

“What do you mean,  _ why _ ? Because we care about you, and aren’t going to force you into something you don’t want. We’re not assholes.”

“No, I know that. I know. I just – why me?”

“Oh, Fitz. You’re not hard to love, you know. We like you to be around because you’re sweet, and smart, and funny. You’ve always been good, and supportive to us. There’s no reason we wouldn’t want you.”

“Beyond that, you’re also really hot,” Hunter added. “You’re the whole package, really, and Bob and I are only human.”

Fitz rolled his eyes at that.

“It just seems, or feels like, like – how do I even put this? Like I don’t deserve this?”

Hunter took his hand first and threaded their fingers together.

“You do, though. You’ve done so much good for the world, and given up so much, that you deserve some good back. I’ve never met someone like you, and I want to give you the entire world if you’ll let me.”

Fitz met his eyes, honest and unflinching as he looked at him. 

“It’s okay if you don’t believe me yet, but I will spend the rest of our time together showing you that.”

“Rest of our time?” Fitz asked.

“However long you want that to be,” Bobbi added.

“Whether you leave when we reach Massachusetts, or if you stay on for longer, or – you get the idea. You get to decide.”

“You guys don’t seem to have any say in this,” Fitz commented.

“Can I be blunt?” Hunter asked. When Fitz nodded, he continued. “We aren’t the ones who have a duplicate married to the love of our life. We also aren’t the ones in the middle of an identity crisis. We know what we want, and that we both want you. So, we can let you lead  on this, and decide how fast or slow you’re comfortable with.”

“I’m not fragile,” Fitz protested.

“No, not fragile,” Bobbi said.

“It’s not about fragility. If it were up to us, you’d be naked and moaning in the bed right now. But just because we’re ready for that doesn’t mean you are. You get to decide that.”

Fitz chewed on his lip, and considered that, turning it over and over in his mind. 

“Can I try something?” he asked.

“Sure,” Hunter said. Fitz shuffled up onto his knees and over the bedspread into Hunter’s space. He wiped his hands on his pants before touching Hunter’s jaw, and then he paused, watching Hunter’s expression. Before he could second-guess himself, he kissed him. Kissing Hunter was nothing like kissing Jemma, but it wasn’t bad. Not a bit. In fact, Fitz enjoyed it immensely. He leaned into Hunter and let himself be pulled in closer into his lap. Hunter’s hands were warm where he held him, pressing up his sleep shirt so his hands were against Fitz’s bare hips.

He had to break away before he dragged Hunter into the mattress, breathing heavily in his space.

“Oh,” he murmured, breathing in Hunter’s exhales. “ _ Oh.” _

_ “ _ Have you ever kissed a man before?”

“No,  uhh , no. You’re definitely the first.”

“I’m flattered, and honored, then, love.”

Fitz shuffled back out of Hunter’s lap. He could tell he was blushing, but Bobbi caught his hand and guided him into her lap next. He sank into her arms and kissed her next, her lips just as soft against his as he expected they might be. She was gentle about it, her hands coming up to rest on his chest, curling a little in his shirt. Fitz had been scared that kissing Bobbi, or really anyone else, would remind him of Jemma, but just like with Hunter, it was entirely different. This was absolutely something else, something he’d never had before. Fitz barely had enough mind to keep himself from moaning into her mouth as she slipped her tongue along his.

When he pulled away, she chased him for one more kiss, quick and then gone, before releasing him.

“Okay,” he said, sliding onto the mattress reluctantly. “Okay. Holy shit. That was – holy shit.”

She grinned at him.

“When was the last time you kissed someone, other than Jemma?” Bobbi asked.

“Oh, Jesus, years ago. Before I joined Coulson’s team. There was a girl I dated while we were at  SciOps .  Uhhh , Emmy something.”

“Wow,” Hunter said.

“Well, I guess, actually, there was Ophelia. Or Aida,” Fitz said. “The,  uhhh , Head of Hydra from the Framework. I did, I did kiss her.”

“Oh,” Bobbi said, eyebrows raising. “Interesting.”

Fitz played with the bedspread, rolling the fabric between his fingers.

“Well, as long as we were better than her,” Hunter said playfully. Fitz laughed and rolled his eyes at Hunter. “Did you find what you were looking for ?”

“Yeah,” Fitz said. “I think I did.”

“Well, I’m always willing to give a repeat performance if you need a refresher,” he said with a wink that thrilled through Fitz. “But, for now, eat up. We’ve got to get on the road.”

* * *

Fitz drummed on the wheel as they sat in traffic. There was construction, because in his experience, Pennsylvania was the worst, and they were stuck behind a truck with testicles hanging off the back bumper, grossly realistic, veiny testicles. 

“I’m going to die of boredom,” he said.

“Do you want to play I Spy?” Hunter asked from the backseat. 

“No,” Bobbi answered. “No, no. Absolutely not. Not in my car. I refuse.”

“That was really adamant,” Fitz said. “Did I Spy murder your entire family or something?”

“When I was growing up, my parents always took us on road trips. A lot of road trips. I couldn’t read in the car because it made me sick. My sister would always get cranky because she hated sitting for that long, and she’d always end up pulling on my hair or starting a fight if she didn’t have something to keep her busy. So, my mom would always make us play road trip games. The amount of times we played Twenty Questions or I Spy drove me insane. I just wanted to read, or sleep, but my mom insisted that I stay awake and participate. It was so dull. I hated all of it.”

“Road trips are extremely American,” Hunter said. 

“They are,” Fitz agreed. 

“I spy,” Hunter started, and Bobbi leaned over to smack at Hunter’s knee. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. It’s a very traumatic memory for you and I won’t bring it up again.”

“I’m going to murder you,” Bobbi said. 

“You won’t,” Hunter said. “Remember that you love me.”

“Not enough some days,” she replied. “Fitz and I will leave you on the side of the road right now and drive away without you.”

“First off, Fitz wouldn’t. He’s too good. Secondly, you can try, but we’re literally not moving right now. I could just get back into the car.”

Fitz chuckled, drumming his fingers again. 

“Are you okay?” Bobbi asked, gesturing to his fingers.

“Yeah, yeah, just fidgety.”

“Fidgety,” Bobbi said. 

“Yeah, just a, a leftover from a coma and a brain injury. I get a little, a little fidgety sometimes.”

He didn’t mention that he got more fidgety and lost his words when he was nervous, or anxious. He didn’t mention that he hadn’t stopped thinking about kissing them, and what it meant, and how good it felt. He didn’t mention that he hadn’t really been able to breathe since he’d parted from them, nursing a low-level panic attack. He had insisted on driving first because he couldn’t look at either of them yet, and he had to have something to focus on that wasn’t the war in his chest. Hunter had looked at him carefully before handing over the keys, letting his fingers drag over Fitz’s palm intentionally, like he knew what his touch would do to Fitz.  Sitting in traffic wasn’t helping, though. There wasn’t anything to focus on in traffic.

He drummed again to the beat of the song, when Bobbi reached over and touched his fingers, stilling them.

“Is this about this morning?” she asked.

“No,” he said too quickly and then made a face at himself. He inched the car forward as the truck in front of him inched forward.  As the truck moved, the testicles swung back and forth.

Bobbi leaned over the center console at him with a patient expression.

“ Do you want to take it back?” she asked.

“Take it back?” he asked, even though the kisses were still burning hot in his mind, a brand against  his eyelids, there every time he blinked. 

“Do you regret kissing us?”

He  took a second to contemplate that before answering, “no. No, I don’t. It just complicates things a little bit.”

“How so?”

“I thought I would know what I want, that it would clear up this knot in my chest. But it didn’t make anything better. Now I just know what I’m missing,” Fitz said. He twisted his hands around the steering wheel. “I know that I like being around you, and that you make me feel better than when you’re not around. I know that I don’t want to leave because I can’t imagine life without you two in it. I know that I don’t want to not kiss you, because now I know what that’s like, and – well, you were there.”

She nodded. 

“So, you know what you don’t want,” she said gently. “You don’t want to leave, and you don’t want to be with anyone else.”

There was a small part of him that agreed whole-heartedly, but then, there was Jemma. 

It wasn’t fair to them that most of him still loved her so deeply he couldn’t unbury himself. It wasn’t fair that they were being patient with him, kind and understanding, while he was so entrenched in this love with Jemma that he might never stop. How could he possibly do this to them? Lead them on and make them believe, make himself believe that he could love them to the same extent? Could he be so cruel as to let them believe that that would change, his heart leaving Jemma and finding its way to them? 

He didn’t want to be with anyone else, though. Jemma didn’t have room in her life for him any longer, and Bobbi and Hunter  _ did.  _ That wasn’t nothing. And what he did feel for them, whatever you wanted to label that, wasn’t nothing either. They were good to him, and good for him, and they were funny, and smart, and had this softness to them when they were alone that he knew was hidden away in public. 

And god, the fucking  _ kisses _ . 

He wasn’t an idiot. He hadn’t been attracted to that many people in his life, but he’d had enough experience to know that kisses like that weren’t an everyday thing. You didn’t meet strangers on the street who kissed like that, whose kisses  _ mattered _ like that. He wasn’t sure what to do with that, though. Sure, he liked them. He didn’t want them to be with anyone else, and he didn’t want to be with anyone else (with the obvious exception). 

Where did that leave them, though?

Where did that leave him?

This was all so confusing, and he didn’t know what to do. If he could only talk to someone who wasn’t in that car.... 

He wanted to talk to Daisy, actually. 

Daisy who still hadn’t messaged him back. 

His life was an absolute mess, and it was almost entirely his own fault. That was no surprise, though he wished that there was at least a little surprise. 

“I don’t want to leave,” Fitz said finally, inching the car forward as the truck moved again. 

“You can figure the rest out later,” Bobbi said. 

* * *

They were supposed to be in Massachusetts that night, but the traffic  and the construction  kept them from making it out of Pennsylvania before the end of the night, and they had to pull off the highway to get a room. Fitz considered asking for two queens instead of the single king, but he was sure that would raise more suspicions  than if he just played along. He sat at the table, watching Bobbi and Hunter move around each other as they got ready for bed, moving easily with all the familiarity that Fitz longed for. His notebook laid open on the table, his pen abandoned.  He’d been trying to let his brain tire itself out so he could sleep that night, but the ideas wouldn’t come, and the page remained blank.

They’d left him alone for most of the day, entertaining each other while he thought it over. He was kind of over thinking, though. 

All he’d done all his life was think, and second guess himself.

He stood up and went outside while Bobbi and Hunter were dancing with each other in the space between the bed and the bathroom. Quietly, he flipped the latch that kept the door from shutting and went out onto the walkway that circled the upper floor, connecting the rooms. It wasn’t too hot outside, not like it had been in Arizona. He leaned against the railing and looked out over the motel, over the trees beyond, the lights from the road. He could hear the cars on the highway, and someone’s television with the volume up way too loud. 

If he didn’t want to think, and he didn’t want to leave, Fitz only really had one avenue. He just didn’t know if he were brave enough to tread it. 

Hunter followed him outside and leaned against the railing beside him. They didn’t speak right away but Hunter did run his fingers along Fitz’s arm and then took his hand. It was so natural to hold hands now that Fitz smiled with the familiarity of the action.

“How are you doing, love?” Hunter asked after a moment of silence.

“I don’t know,” Fitz said honestly.

“That’s okay,” Hunter replied. He was so close Fitz could smell the body wash he used, and the after shave he used after he trimmed his beard. The heat of their kiss flashed through Fitz. It had just been that morning that they’d kissed, but Fitz was strangely desperate for a repeat. After so long without human touch, Fitz should have known he’d feel starved, and that a taste of affection would be like a drug he didn’t want to say no to.

When Fitz looked up, he met Hunter’s eyes and paused. Hunter’s eyes were gorgeous, and his gaze intense.

“If we do this, you know I’ve never done this before, right?”

“I’ve also never been in a polyamorous relationship, so it’s new for all of us.”

“That’s – okay, not what I meant. I meant, this. Here. I’ve never even kissed another guy before you, let alone, you know.”

Hunter leaned in closer and Fitz forgot how to breathe. 

“That’s okay,” Hunter said softly. “I’ll be gentle then, if you want us, want me.”

Fitz sighed out a breath.

“I want you,” Fitz said easily. “That’s not a doubt.”

“For you, it’s not,” Hunter said. Fitz felt his eyebrows quirk up at that. “You’ve never been with another man, nor have you shown any interest before. I didn’t know if this was some crisis, something temporary. I couldn’t handle it if you and I started something, and then you decided you weren’t interested.”

Fitz studied him, the way the motel’s parking lot lights lit up his features, casting shadows that Fitz wanted to trace with his fingertips. He hadn’t realized that Hunter had doubts and insecurities, too. Both Bobbi and Hunter had seemed so confident about it, that Fitz felt like he was the only one doubting himself. They were spies, though, so of course, they were good at hiding any doubts.

“No,” Fitz said, shifting closer to Hunter who smiled a little at him. “I’m not – I've never been someone who gets bored of someone and walks away.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Hunter agreed in a whisper. “I know.”

Fitz kept ahold of his hand but with his free hand, touched the edge of Hunter’s jaw. 

“Can I kiss you, Hunter?”

“You don’t have to ask,” Hunter whispered. “I’m yours, Fitz.”

Fitz kissed him, then, slotting their lips together. Hunter was so warm and soft, and Fitz could taste the hot sauce on his tongue from dinner. Hunter’s free hand pulled Fitz even closer by one of his belt loops, so Fitz was flush against him. Fitz let the tension he’d been holding go, ready to just give in and let Hunter have him, let Hunter envelope and consume him. Hunter was just so perfect, and Fitz couldn’t figure out what took him so long to kiss him like this. 

Hunter shifted them so Fitz was pressed up against the railing, his free hand tracing a line up Fitz’s spine to his neck , cupping the back of his head. It was so intimate Fitz couldn’t help but whimper into the kiss. Hunter seemed content to explore Fitz’s mouth in the open air where the world could see, and Fitz couldn’t find it in himself to disagree.

“God, you’re so beautiful, Fitz,” Hunter whispered as he tracked kisses from Fitz’s mouth to his jaw and down his neck. Fitz gripped Hunter’s hair, what he could with how short it was, and groaned. 

“What are you two doing?” Bobbi asked with an amused laugh, leaning out of the door to their room.

“What does it look like?” Hunter asked, raising his head to look at her over his shoulder. Fitz missed the warmth of his mouth immediately and turned his head to kiss his way across Hunter’s jaw to the corner of his mouth. 

“No, I see what you’re doing. Why are you out  _ here _ doing it? We have a perfectly good bed that we’re paying for that you could be using .”

Hunter turned his attention back, kissing Fitz again, sloppy and excited.

“You feel ready for bed?” 

Fitz nodded, wanting to feel all of Hunter against him, and Bobbi.

“Yeah,” Fitz managed, “please.”

“Come on, love,” Hunter said, walking them back towards the room without taking his hands off Fitz. “Tell me when you want to stop. I don’t mind waiting until you’re ready.”

“You’ll be gentle?”  Fitz asked, trying for teasing but his voice dipped and came out far more sincere than intended.

“I will,” Hunter said, pausing to stroke his thumb over the nape of Fitz’s neck. “I won’t hurt you, Fitz.”

“I know.”

Hunter led them into the room, and Bobbi closed the door behind them.  She pressed into Fitz back and kissed his neck.

“You okay?” she asked, looping her hands around his sides and up his chest. “Do you want  to keep going?”

“Yeah,” he said, tilting his head just enough to kiss her. It was an awkward angle,  but it worked.

“Good. I’ve been wanting to get my hands on you since you stepped into the room in Arizona.”

Hunter’s hands went to the buttons on Fitz's shirt , undoing them one by one while Fitz was distracted. Once his shirt was open, Hunter trailed his fingertips down the center of his chest and  followed it with kisses, slow and soft. Fitz sighed out a breath, leaning into Bobbi as she kissed his neck again.

“This is really good,” he murmured.

“Good,” she said. “Enjoy it.”

“Yeah. I can do that.” 

Hunter’s fingertips danced across Fitz’s waist to the button on his jeans.

“Okay?” he asked.

“Please,” Fitz managed. Hunter smiled at him, and Fitz couldn’t look away from him, in awe of how efficient and gentle he managed to be at the same time. He had Fitz’s jeans undone and open, and they locked eyes as Hunter stroked the outline of his cock through the fabric. He was already half hard just from kissing Hunter, and quickly working his way towards aching with Hunter’s touch. The noise he made wasn’t entirely human, and Bobbi chuckled behind him. 

“Can I tell you about Hunter’s fantasies?” Bobbi asked quietly. Hunter smirked up at them, sinking to his knees in front of them. Fitz’s mouth went dry, and he nodded excitedly. “I’ve heard all of them. They’re very good. They start with a nice dinner, usually, where he would impress you, wine and dine you. He's very good at it, you'd love it. Then, he'd take you to the nicest hotel in town and kiss you in the elevator. In the room, he would undress you slowly, just like this.”

Hunter grinned up at them and tugged at Fitz's pants. Fitz whimpered at that, and shifted to let Hunter drag his jeans down off his hips, taking his underwear with them. His cock bobbed out, ready and waiting.  Hunter didn’t immediately touch him, though, which was frustrating. Instead, he opted for kissing Fitz's hipbones and  down his thighs, hands working on taking the pants the rest of the way off Fitz's legs. 

“ He’d kiss you all over, leaving his marks all over your body.  I won’t let him leave marks on me, but you,  he’d mark like he was jealous.”

Hunter made a noise at his feet, and  caught Fitz's eye again.

“Then, he’d take your cock in his mouth, and suck you off so good. His mouth, Fitz,” Bobbi groaned, and he felt her hips press against him, and she nipped at his neck. “Hunter’s mouth gets him into a lot of trouble, but it’s so good when he uses that mouth on you. He’ll make you see god when you come. And he looks so beautiful down on his knees like that, don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” Fitz breathed out.

“See, I told you,” Bobbi said to Hunter, who finally wrapped his hand around Fitz’s cock and Fitz let out a choked sound. “He’s so into it. Look at how hard he is, baby.”

“So beautiful,” Hunter said, stroking him slowly, testing Fitz’s reactions, learning him carefully. “Look at him, Bob.”

This was everything that Fitz had ever wanted, almost explicitly his shower fantasy from that morning. He wanted to tell them, but all his words were lost, tipping his head back into Bobbi, wanting to keep his eyes on Hunter though. 

“Fuck,” he moaned, tucking himself back into Bobbi but his hips gravitating towards Hunter and the warmth and pressure of his gorgeous hands. Fitz had never really paid attention to Hunter’s hands before, not that way at the very least, but he would now. He would absolutely obsess about the way Hunter held his silverware and touched his mouth. “Jesus Christ, this isn’t real.”

“It is, love. It’s real. I’ve got you,” Hunter said and kissing Fitz’s hip again. He desperately wanted to feel Hunter’s mouth on him, but he also didn’t want this to be over yet, and as soon as Hunter got his mouth on him, he was sure he would explode on the spot. Hunter could tease him for the rest of eternity, as long as he didn’t stop. “Relax, Fitz. Stop thinking.”

And he did, watching Hunter stroke him, pleasure twisting through him with every motion.

“After he sucks you off and lets you come down his throat, he’ll carry you to the bed and lay you out, kissing you all over. He’ll let you come down, and then he’ll get you hard all over again until you’re aching and desperate for him to touch you. He’ll be so good to you, Fitz. So good. I can’t wait to watch him take care of you how you deserve.”

“And you?” Fitz asked, looking at Bobbi over his shoulder. She kissed him. 

“I’ll have my turn with you, but I want to watch you first.”

Fitz kissed her back and she turned his head back towards Hunter after, watching as Hunter leaned in and licked up the underside of Fitz’s cock. He couldn’t think of the last time he’d gotten a blowjob, so much time since someone had touched him like this, and Hunter’s tongue, warm and wet, and beautiful, was perfect. 

“He’ll open you up, and fuck you with his fingers. Then, he’ll fuck you with his wonderful cock, and he’ll take care of you so good, you’ll never want anyone else.”

That wasn’t a doubt, Fitz thought. That wasn’t a doubt at all.

“Well,” she chuckled, “until I get my hands on you.”

“Of course,” he agreed, voice choked and strangled as Hunter wrapped his mouth around him and swallowed down half his length without warning. “ _ Holy shit _ .”

Bobbi moved back just enough to pull Fitz’s shirt and jacket from his shoulders, and tossing them away towards his pants. Hunter hadn’t removed his socks, which looked funny as he was staring down at Hunter, his own body naked down to his feet. He couldn’t help the chuckle that bubbled up out of him.

“What?” Bobbi asked.

“Socks,” he answered, wiggling his toes against the carpet below them. He hated the feel of motel carpets anyway, so he didn’t mind it. 

“Do you want them off?” 

“No, they’re fine. It just humored me.”

She pressed a line of kisses along his neck and shoulder, one hand sliding around him to run up his stomach. Hunter sucked more of him into his mouth, and Fitz forgot how to breathe, Bobbi’s fingers playing with his nipple, and Hunter looking so beautiful as he pleasured him. All his words were moans, and he had to fight to keep his hips still as Hunter bobbed his head, tongue twisting around him. His mouth was perfect, just like Fitz had imagined, and Hunter’s small smile as he enjoyed this too was driving Fitz crazy. 

He wasn’t going to last much longer, that he knew, untouched for so long that Hunter probably could have gotten him off without touching him at all if he were enough of a tease. The pleasure built up in his belly exponentially, spurred on by Bobbi’s touches and kisses and little whispers in his ear, and Hunter sucking him like he’d never do anything else ever again. Fitz let his hand fall to Hunter’s hair, but he didn’t hold on until Hunter reached up and curled his hand into his hair with an encouraging nod. Fitz gripped his hair like it was all he could do, Hunter bobbing his head in time to Fitz’s heartbeats, quick and rhythmic. 

“Hunter,” Fitz breathed out, and Hunter winked at him. “Fuck,  _ Hunter _ .”

Hunter sank down even further, Fitz’s cock fully rooted in Hunter’s mouth, and the noise Fitz made was distant, like it came from outside of him. 

“Hunter,” he tried to warn him, but Bobbi pinched his nipple perfectly, and the tip of his cock touched the back of Hunter’s throat, and he was gone. He whined, and tugged at Hunter’s hair, causing Hunter to moan around him unexpectedly. When he came, all he could focus on was Hunter, down on his knees, eyes closed with his eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks, lips stretched around Fitz’s cock. The world had narrowed down to them, Bobbi pressing him forward and Hunter pressing him back, all of them connected. 

When he came down, Bobbi had him around the chest, keeping him standing. Hunter pulled off, sucking him clean, and smiling. 

“What a good boy,” Hunter teased, kissing his hip. 

“Holy shit, Hunter,” Fitz whimpered. Hunter rose up off his knees, sliding his hands up Fitz’s chest, passing over Bobbi’s arms for a moment with a wink at her. He curled his hands around Fitz’s neck and kissed him, slipping his tongue into Fitz’s mouth so Fitz could taste himself on Hunter’s tongue. Fitz hummed and leaned into Hunter’s arms, letting himself be enveloped. 

“Do you want to keep going?” Hunter asked. 

“Yeah. I do.”

“Come with me, then.”

* * *

Bobbi fell asleep first afterwards, a few strands of her hair drifting slowly over her face. Hunter kissed Fitz’s collarbone, mumbling something about Fitz being beautiful, as he passed out in the middle of his sentence. Fitz, though, couldn’t sleep. He’d tried not to let his anxieties creep back in, having enjoyed the freedom of not caring about the future for once. Except, they did creep back in anyway. 

He hadn’t thought of Jemma once, not even a flash of guilt. He’d been so wrapped up in how good it felt that he’d completely forgotten her and their life together. Hunter had been so sweet, and calm, and attentive, and Fitz hadn’t ever had that before. He had always enjoyed sex, especially with Jemma, but he’d never been taken care of like that. Even Bobbi, who didn’t need to treat him so well, had been good to him. Maybe that spoke more to him and his self-esteem more than anything else. 

He couldn’t lay there, though, a storm brewing inside his head. Slowly, he extracted himself from between them, and climbed out of bed. He redressed, touching the marks Hunter had left down his chest. There’d been no one before that he’d let leave hickeys, not even Jemma. But Hunter had looked so good slotted between his legs that he could have done anything to Fitz.

That’s what worried Fitz the most.

“Stop thinking,” Hunter had whispered, and Fitz  _ had _ .

He pulled his jacket on, grabbed his wallet, and tucked his feet into his shoes. Outside, he stood at the railing, looking out over the parking lot. He forced himself away from the railing, and headed for the lobby. It felt wrong even as he did it, putting his credit card on the counter for the desk clerk to run. 

“Just the one night?” she asked tiredly. He’d interrupted her scrolling through Facebook.

“Yeah.”

“Weren’t you in here with the English guy earlier?”

He looked up at her, surprised that she remembered his face considering he hung back most of the time, letting Bobbi or Hunter take the lead.

“Yeah.”

She nodded, typing in the computer and grabbing a key for him.

“Hope everything’s okay between you.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Fitz took the key and headed for his room, set a few doors down from where Bobbi and Hunter were sleeping. It was cold, and when he climbed into bed, only taking off his shoes, it was alone for the first time all week. He hated it; he’d thought he’d never get used to Hunter’s warmth pressed up into Fitz or the way Bobbi would nuzzle into his back, but now he missed it. 

He should have stayed in bed with them.

It was too late to go back, though. He’d already left. He’d left after telling Hunter that he wouldn’t. That wasn’t out of disinterest or boredom, but the exact opposite. He was incredibly interested in them and everything they did.

Hunter had whispered that he loved him into his neck as he came, and Fitz had nearly blurted it out in return, but mid-orgasm was never a good time to confess anything. He wasn’t going to hold Hunter to it, either. He had heard all sorts of things during sex, and he’d never taken any of them to heart unless they were repeated outside of that heated moment.

But what if Hunter  _ did _ love him? He didn’t know what to do with that. Well, he did. Because he might – no, he did love Lance  Hunter . He didn’t doubt that at all; when Hunter kissed him, it was like fireworks. Hunter had not just fucked Fitz, but had made love to him. Fitz hated that term, but he couldn’t call it anything else. Fitz had felt himself falling more and more in love with Hunter, and now here he was, terrified and aching.

And then, there was Bobbi. You had to be an idiot not to love her. She was smart, and beautiful, and skilled, everything someone could possibly want in a partner, including able to kill a man. Fitz found that super attractive, and he always had. He’d never tell anyone in the world, but May’s whole vibe of Look at Me Too Long and You’ll Never Be Seen Again had been a turn on for him. 

He lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling, wondering how he got here. How had his life veered so off track that he had sex with Bobbi Morse and Lance Hunter? It had been great, of course, and he’d enjoyed it more than he had any right to.

He’d had a plan for the future, and it didn’t look like this. He wasn’t good with change, usually, and he’d had nothing but change since Jemma had dragged them out into the field with her big eyes and her determination. But he’d still had a plan. He’d pictured the cottage in  Perthshire that Jemma had described, Jemma at his side, with their kids, and a normal civilian life that they had earned in blood, and sweat, and loss. He’d wanted to marry her in front of their friends, and their family, take her home to Scotland and watch his mum fawn over her all over again. He’d wanted to meet her parents and her brothers, as her boyfriend, as her husband. He’d never get that now, not with her. They’d all met before when Fitz and Jemma were still at the Academy, and her mum had made suggestive looks towards Jemma with little comments about the future. Fitz would never talk to them again, though. The life he’d thought about for years, the life he’d kept on the horizon while he was trying to make it back to Jemma, it was gone. Well, for him, at least. Jemma and the real him would still get to have that. They’d be so happy together, married and blissful. 

Could he have that with Hunter and Bobbi? It might be nice; he could picture Bobbi coming home and kissing him hello, Hunter making them dinner in the kitchen, a dog Hunter named at their feet. Did he want a future with them the same way? The house and the kids with Bobbi’s blonde hair and Hunter’s hazel eyes? His heart jumped at that, at children with them, at a commitment that lasted forever. He wanted forever, that was sure, and he wanted it with them. Not because he couldn’t have Jemma, and they were some second choice, either. He had wanted them before, however hidden that was, but now he didn’t have to bury that. He wanted to get to know them, find out every secret and quirk they had, and if it took decades, he was willing to spend that time with them. If he got to come home to them, it didn’t matter where they lived or if they had kids. They were enough for him. 

He didn’t know how he could want both things at once, a life with them and a life with her, both intense and infinite.

The hours passed, staring up at the ceiling without sleeping, and day crept in slowly.

** Tàmhas ** ** :  ** Please don’t be dead, I have gossip for you

There was no response from Daisy, but he didn’t expect one.

He closed his eyes and tried to will sleep to him, but no sleep came. Instead, there was a knock on the door, quick and insistent. It was the most Lance Hunter knock he’d ever heard. He pushed himself up off the bed, aching and his foot asleep, and crossed the room. The knock came again. It was definitely Hunter at the door.

He pulled open the door and found Hunter, as expected, arms crossed over his chest, the light but steady rain starting to dampen his hair. 

“Come in,” Fitz said, gesturing him in. “Bobbi?”

“Not awake yet,” Hunter said. Fitz nodded, and closed the door as Hunter stepped past him. He intentionally kept his distance, making sure they didn’t touch. Fitz wasn’t used to Hunter being angry or upset, but he could see the muscle in Hunter’s jaw tensed like he was biting his tongue. 

“How’d you find me?”

“I asked the clerk, said my husband was being a dick and I wanted to yell at him, and she gave up your room number out of sympathy.”

Fitz nodded, rubbing at his eye as if that would make up for all the sleep he’d missed.

“So, you’re not the kind of person who gets bored of someone and walks away, huh?”

He hadn’t thought this far, how he would explain it to them , how he would make all of the worries and anxieties sound at least something like sanity .

“I’m not bored, and I didn’t walk away,” Fitz said.

“What do you call  _ this _ ?” Hunter asked, gesturing around them at the cold, dark motel room. Fitz moved and turned on the light so they could see. 

“I  guess – I panicked,” Fitz said.

“You panicked,” Hunter echoed.

“Yeah. I’ve been set on Happily Ever After with Jemma for so long that sleeping with you without thinking of her felt wrong, felt like a betrayal.”

Hunter’s frown deepened, and Fitz did not like that at all. He didn’t want to hurt Hunter.

“You said you were ready,” Hunter said slowly.

“I was. I am. I just – have you ever had that rush of emotions after sex?”

“Yes, but never  _ panic.” _

“It wasn’t panic at first. I was happy, and you’d been so good to me, and I didn’t deserve that, but I felt so, so free afterwards, and I felt like I didn’t deserve your care or your attention or how you feel about me, and that’s where the panic came from.”

“From?”

“I was happy with you and Bobbi, but I am still in love with Jemma and probably always will be, and how can I do that to you guys?”

Hunter frowned again and said, “we’re not asking you to stop.”

“It’s not about – I know that. It’s not about that. This isn’t because I feel pressured. It’s just something that I’m feeling and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“You could talk to us about it .”

“I don’t know – I don’t know  _ how _ . I don’t want to scare you away because I’m this broken spare part that doesn’t fit with the rest of the set.”

“You are not  _ broken _ ,” Hunter insisted.

“I am, but –”

Hunter stepped closer to him and set his hands on Fitz’s shoulders.

“You are not broken, Fitz, and you’re not a part of anything, spare or otherwise. You are a whole person, a whole, real person who deserves happiness.” Fitz shook his head, moving away so Hunter’s hands fell from his shoulders. Hunter breathed out a sigh, which sounded like his name. “Don’ t.”

“How can you be okay with this, with me?”

Fitz wasn’t sure why he was arguing, but his mouth was usually the problem maker anyway. He wanted Hunter, and he wanted the future laying in front of them, but he was still terrified to let himself have it. What if the curse wasn’t on him and Simmons as a couple, but just on  _ him _ ? He didn’t want to ruin this too.

“Because I – you –” Hunter groaned and cut himself off. He shook his head at Fitz. “How do you not see how fucking amazing you are? I don’t give a shit if you’re a clone, or a LMD, or whatever. You, you are Leo Fitz, and I’ve loved you since we met. How can you not –” 

“You love me,” Fitz whispered. They weren’t mid-orgasm now, and Hunter was looking right at Fitz.

“Of course, I do,” Hunter said

“What do you mean, of course?”

Hunter stepped into his space and kissed him, holding the front of his jacket. Fitz sank into the kiss with a quiet sigh into Hunter’s mouth, eagerly running his tongue along Hunter’s. He enjoyed the little noises Hunter made, the sighs and groans, like Fitz was driving him crazy.

“You can love Simmons for the rest of your life, as long as you come back to us, come home to us at the end of the day. As long as you choose us and our life together, that’s all I ask.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Hunter said. “Because someday, you’ll fall in love with us, and you’ll feel less like you’re doing something bad.”

Fitz nuzzled against Hunter’s jaw.

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh, baby,” Hunter cooed, hands falling to Fitz’s hips. “I know. You’re okay, though. Just talk to us about this stuff. That’s what we’re here for.”

“You make me feel better,” Fitz said, tucking himself tighter against Hunter. “Like, like I’m supposed to exist.”

“You are, and I’m glad.”

“I’m sorry for leaving. I should have stayed, told you what was going on with me. I didn’t mean to hurt you, but I did, and –”

Hunter tilted his head back and kissed him. 

“Will you come back to the room?” Hunter asked. “I need to show you exactly what I love about you.” 

“Also, Bobbi’s there.”

“Yeah, her too.”

Fitz pressed a lingering kiss into Hunter’s cheek.

“Thank you for being so good to me, Hunter. It’s been a long time since I’ve had anything like this. I forgot what it was like.”

“Two years without affection will do that. Plus, you went through a lot, with fighting for your life, and discovering you weren’t the only you anymore. That’s some trauma no one else will understand.”

He kissed Fitz’s temple.

“We’re here to help you work through that, and be there on the other side. We’ve all got our shit, but that shouldn’t stop us. We’ve got you, the same as we know you’ve got us.”

“Let’s go to bed. I’m so tired.”

Hunter led them out of the room, Fitz stopping to grab his shoes and room key. Back in their own room, Bobbi was asleep in the middle of the bed, star-fished while cuddling Fitz’s pillow. The blanket was down around her waist, displaying her bare back. 

“Did you sleep at all last night?” Hunter asked, immediately dragging the jacket off Fitz’s shoulders as the door shut behind them.

“No, had too many thoughts.”

He kissed Fitz’s neck and slid his hands up under his t-shirt to ruck it up around his waist. 

“That’s a lot of thoughts.”

“Yeah.”

“Take off your clothes, Fitz,” Hunter said, nibbling teasingly on Fitz’s neck. He had a penchant for leaving marks, which Fitz couldn’t complain about. “Let’s get rid of those worries and doubts, yeah?”

“Take them off me yourself,” Fitz challenged.

“Oh, really?”

He pulled the shirt up over his head and tossed it towards the pile of Bobbi’s clothes at the foot of the bed. Hunter trailed kisses over Fitz’s shoulder, making a little noise of delight with each one.

“You’re so beautiful,” Hunter murmured. “God, I love you so much, Fitz.”

Fitz gripped his arm where Hunter held him.

“Yeah?”

“ Mmmhm ,” Hunter hummed. “I do.”

“When you helped me get out prison, and into the  cryochamber , you told me you loved me. Was that serious or a joke?”

“Both. I did love you, and I meant it, and I also saw the Star Wars reference unfolding. So.”

“And you’re okay, you know, with me not saying it back yet?”

“Yes.”

Fitz turned in  Hutner’s arms and put his hands on Hunter’s jaw.

“Do you know that you’re perfect?”

“I’m not. I’ve got my own problems you’ll discover. You won’t like those.”

“I’ll like any part of you,” Fitz said. He moved his hands to Hunter’s jacket and undressed him, too, keeping his eyes on Hunter’s.

“What are you two doing?” Bobbi grumbled. Fitz turned to look at her, sprawled out in bed, looking at them with her head propped up on her hand. “Why are you dressed? It’s not even five AM.”

“Fitz needed a little time,” Hunter said, hands going to the button of his jeans while he was distracted. He couldn’t help himself though, all of Bobbi’s golden tan skin on display unabashedly. Fitz flushed as he remembered how Bobbi’s skin had felt underneath his touch, how she’d responded with eager moans and gentle praises. “I’ve almost got him sorted. He just needs a little Bobbi love to really drive it home.”

“Oh, really?” Bobbi asked. Her voice was scratchy and a little hoarse from sleep and Fitz wanted to hear that roughness whispered against his ear. “Come back to bed, then, Fitz.”

Hunter, at the same time, dragged his pants off his hips with his underwear at the same time. He kissed the small of his back as he was knelt behind Fitz.

“Go on,” Hunter said, patting Fitz’s bum. “Go to her. I’ll be right there.”

Fitz stumbled into bed with Bobbi, and she pulled him in close. He kissed her, holding himself up off her with one hand while the other trailed over her bare breast, her ribs, her curve, her hip. She was so warm from sleep, a drastic difference from the chill of the other room.

“You’re so cold,” she murmured.

“Sorry,” he replied.

“That’s okay. Means I get to warm you up.”

Fitz laughed as she rolled him onto his back against the mattress, warm from her body heat. 

“You two are so hot,” Hunter said from nearby, kneeling nearby. “How’d I get so lucky?”

“You’re persistent,” Fitz replied as Bobbi kissed down his neck to the first mark that Hunter had left on him, tracing down Fitz’s chest and stroking over his stomach. “And  attracti -”

He trailed off with a moan as  Bobbi’s hand wrapped around his cock and stroked him slowly, teasingly. 

“Does that feel good?” Bobbi asked, kissing the center of his chest.

“Yeah,” he breathed.

“Tell me if it doesn’t, okay? I’ve only been with Hunter for so long, so what works for him may not feel good for you.”

He nodded.

“I will say, I did not have a partner for over two years, so literally anything will feel good at this point. You saw how fast I came last night.” 

She laughed and kissed him.

“I did. That’s okay. You’ve got us to teach you all over again. We’ll have fun,” she said. “If you want, of course.”

“If I ever say no to you getting me off,” Fitz started but trailed off as Hunter moved in to kiss the other side of Fitz’s neck. “Oh, that’s really nice.”

“Yeah?”

Fitz whimpered as Bobbi twisted her hand, and Hunter turned his face over towards him and kissed him. Hunter made a noise into his mouth, like pleasure big and bright between them. 

“Look at you two,” Bobbi said, speeding up her hand. “God, look at you.”

Fitz was still sensitive from the night before, and it didn’t take Bobbi long to bring him straight to the edge. He tried to keep his hips still but Bobbi whispered softly in Fitz’s ear encouragements.

“You can come, Fitz, whenever you want,” Bobbi murmured. “Come for us, baby. All over us.”

Fitz couldn’t stop picturing what it would look like, his cum over their skin, over their chests and necks, splattered across their lips, his own mark on them. They would look so good, so hot, something that Fitz would keep with him for the rest of his life, even if they were there the entire time. 

When he came, he clutched both of his partners, grateful to feel their skin underneath his hands. They left kisses all over his skin.

“You’re not  gonna run away again, right?” Bobbi asked as they settled together, Fitz’s breath slowly with his heartbeat. 

“No,” he said, pulling his hand through Bobbi’s hand. “No, I’m staying.”

“Promise.”

“Promise,” Fitz replied. 

“So, whatever that was?” she asked. Fitz hummed, but didn’t respond at first. Bobbi continued when he didn’t say anything, “whatever that was is...”

“Jemma,” he answered slowly.

“It’s actually Bobbi,” she joked, “in case you forgot.”

He pinched her side, and she giggled. 

“It was about Jemma, about how I didn’t want to hurt you guys because I still love Jemma. And, like I told Hunter, I panicked, because I hadn’t thought about her at all last night, but that’s, that’s a good thing, I realize. For the longest time, Jemma was all-encompassing for me. It was this sun I orbited, a safe, constant that I could count on. If I had nothing in the world, I at least had that.  For two years, I was entirely focused on getting back to her that nothing else mattered. But for the first time, last night, Jemma Simmons didn’t exist, and it was so freeing. And it felt so good.”

“Understandable.” Bobbi kissed his chest, and looked over him at Hunter. “You okay with all of this?”

“Yeah,” he replied, and he paused where he was drawing designs into Fitz’s stomach, fingers avoiding the splatter of his cum across his skin. “As long as you keep choosing us every day, I’m okay.”

Fitz drew Hunter in for a kiss, and smiled into his mouth.

“You’re safe here,” Hunter said to him as they reluctantly drew away again. “You can grow with us, and us with you, and you’ll always have a spot with us if you want it.”

“I want it,” Fitz replied without having to think. He’d done enough thinking. He wanted to act now, and leap knowing that they’d catch him. “Should we start always tonight? I have some ideas of where we can begin.”

* * *

They stayed as late as they could, and ate breakfast on the road, Fitz dozing in the backseat while Hunter and Bobbi drove. They didn’t have long to go, driving from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts, but given his lack of sleep, and the orgasms he’d had that morning, he kept falling asleep for a few minute stretches at a time. 

“Hey love,” Hunter said, tapping his knee gently to jostle him awake. They’re parked out front of a house on a quaint street. “We’re here. Come on.”

“Where’s here, exactly?”

“Little suburb outside of Boston,” Bobbi said from the front seat. “We’ll have to stay here for a while, it’s a long job.”

She nodded towards the house, and then looked over her shoulder at him. There was something like hope, and welcoming in her eyes, in the curve of her smile. 

“I hope you don’t mind. We secured the house for the year.”

“The year?” he asked.

“Yes, well,” she said, and looked at Hunter. “It’s not the usual job.”

“It’s not?”

“We should talk about this in the house,” Hunter said. “I would really like to not be in the car. I’d like to take off my shoes, and lay on a couch that hasn’t had a million people come on it.”

“We’re some of those million people, you know,” Fitz reminded him. 

“Yes, well, any cum on the couch, I want to just be ours, I think,” Hunter replied.

“Do not come on our couch,” Bobbi said. She popped open her door. “Let’s continue this inside.”

Fitz climbed out of the car after Hunter, and Hunter reached for him, grabbing his hand. They slid their fingers together, and Hunter led them towards the house, following Bobbi. She danced a set of keys in front of them. She unlocked the door, and let them inside. Fitz looked at the one-story house as they entered, at the neat foyer, and the doorways that cut left and right, one leading into the dining room and beyond that the kitchen, the other to the living room and the bedrooms beyond. It was already furnished and decorated, although a little stiffly, but as Bobbi stepped in, and then Hunter, it felt like home because they were in it. They could stay in any house, in any motel, in any cardboard box on the street for all Fitz cared, as long as they were there on either side of him at night. 

“So, a house,” Fitz said, shutting the door behind them. Hunter kicked off his shoes towards the closet nearby, and took off his jacket to drop on a coatrack. “That’s a little, a little fast.”

“Well, we figured we didn’t want to spend a year eating fast food when Hunter is a perfectly good cook,” Bobbi said lightly, taking off her jacket first and setting it with Hunter’s, and then taking off her shoes. “There are two bedrooms, if you’re not comfortable with this yet –” 

“We could also get you an apartment nearby if you need,” Hunter added, heading for the kitchen. Fitz followed, watching as Hunter immediately started inventorying the kitchen, starting with the fridge and pantry. 

“For the year?” he asked next. 

“Well, yeah,” Bobbi said. Fitz leaned against the kitchen island, and Bobbi sank into one of the stools there. “We only signed the lease for a year, but if we like it, the area, whatever, we could always buy something nearby, or buy this one. Or, if we don’t, we can find somewhere else.”

She shrugged like she hadn’t said anything groundbreaking. 

“But what about the job?” 

“It’s not our usual job as one might traditionally think of it,” Bobbi said. 

“It’s a job-job,” Hunter explained. “I got hired as a security guard at a tech company specializing in protections for  inhumans .”

Fitz cocked his head and furrowed his eyebrows. 

“You’re not doing mercenary work anymore? Not because of me, I hope”

“No,” Hunter said, closing the fridge door and coming around to Fitz’s side, leaning into his space. “No, we were thinking about it for a couple of months now. We’re tired of always moving around, and not having a place of our own, a place to relax and feel safe. We’re not as young as we used to be, obviously, and we wanted to try something a bit different. And then you came to us, and we decided now was the time. Bobbi contacted a friend in the Boston area to try and find a place so quickly. And I’ve had the head of this security breathing down my neck since I helped them out last year.”

“You are a catch,” Fitz said, and Hunter kissed Fitz’s cheek. “I’d want you at my company.”

“Are you going to start your own business and be my boss? That’d be hot.”

Fitz nudged Hunter playfully. 

“Boys,” Bobbi laughed.

“Bobbi has a meeting with a different laboratory where she’ll be putting her PhD and her beautiful brain to use on Friday.”

The way Hunter spoke about Bobbi made Fitz’s heart squeeze, seeing them be soft after their history. Fitz looked at them, and smiled. 

“If you want to stay,” Bobbi said, “we can look for a place for you to work. If you want.”

“I’m staying, Bobbi,” Fitz said, taking Bobbi’s hand. “You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Good,” she said, drawing him into her and kissing him. “Promise.”

“I promise.”

She bumped her nose against his, and he chuckled.

“You know,” he said, looking at her, and then at Hunter, and feeling so, so full. “You’re going to have to meet my mum now, especially if you’re going to make me into some kind of kept man or something.”

“I would be delighted to meet your mom,” Bobbi said, and then turned to look at Hunter. “Hunter is terrible at meeting the parents, I will warn you that ahead of time. He spilled his beer on my mom within ten minutes of meeting her.”

“It was an accident,” Hunter said.

“You’ll actually have to beat Mum to it, spilling stuff, that is. She’s quite clumsy,” Fitz said. “She tripped Jemma the first time she visited, and sent Jemma right into the garden in her neat white dress. It was terrible and absolutely hilarious.”

“That is my kind of woman,” Bobbi said with a laugh. They all followed, and it filled the kitchen so beautifully that Fitz couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. It was so sweet, and so soft, and so perfect. It wasn’t a cottage in  Perthshire , the life he’d imagined. It was so much better. So, so much better. 

* * *

Fitz laid down on the bed in their bedroom first, staring up at the ceiling, ready to doze off even though he should be helping unpack. His phone rang in his pocket, though, preventing him from falling asleep all the way. He answered it without looking at the caller ID. There were only a handful of people with this number, and two of them were in the house with him.

“Hello?”

“Oh my god, Fitz! I have so much to tell you,” Daisy said in lieu of greeting. “It has been a  _ time _ .”

“Oh, yeah?” he laughed.

“Yeah! I went time traveling! Except the other direction this time!”

“Did you? Did you bring back any strays this time?” he joked.

“Actually, yes.”

“What?” 

He sat up in bed as if that would make him hear her better.

“Two, actually. Well, sort of. They’re not from our timeline, we pulled them out of their past. Well, not  _ their  _ past, obviously, but – am I making any sense?”

“Not really. Who are they?”

“So, okay, the first is Daniel Sousa,” she said.

“Peggy Carter’s old partner, first fallen agent of SHIELD? That Daniel Sousa?”

“Yeah,” she replied, and he heard the soft sigh in her voice, which he hadn’t heard since Lincoln.

“Do you  _ like _ him, Daisy?”

“Yeah.”

“You do!”

“Yeah, whatever, it’s not a big deal.”

“Yes, it is. The Daisy Johnson herself likes someone. That’s a very big deal.”

“You’d like him, Fitz. He’s a good guy, and a dweeb just like you.”

“Do I like him?” Fitz asked.

“I think so. I haven’t really spent a lot of time with that you, especially with – oh, well, I guess you wouldn’t know. We just got back, and took care of that threat, so I guess they wouldn’t – okay, he and Jemma were gone for a lot longer than we were.  Uhm . About four or five years, and they had a child.”

“What?!” He could hear his heartbeat thrum in his ears like a drum. “They did?”

“Yeah. So, her name is  Alya ,” Daisy said.

“After Jemma’s favorite star?”

“Apparently? She’s beautiful, Fitz. She’s so,  _ so _ smart, and she’s just like you.”

“That’s – wow.”

“Oh,” Daisy said. “That must hurt, I’m so sorry, I didn’t want to upset you.”

“I’m not upset, Daisy. I chose to leave.”

“You’re not? You got over it that quickly?”

“I’m not over Jemma, sure, but I have a life to look forward to outside of her now.”

“Bobbi and Hunter?”

“Yeah, Bobbi and Hunter,” he said.

“Tell me all about it! I’ve got to know! How does that work? Are you jealous at all? Do you, like, group kiss each other all at once, or do you take turns?”

Fitz laughed, and looked out the bedroom door to where Bobbi was ordering groceries to be delivered to the house. He could hear Hunter in the bathroom next door, whistling as he unpacked their bathroom supplies. 

“It’s really good, Daisy. I’m so happy.”

“I’d glad, Fitz.”

“But to answer your questions, we’re all dating each other. I don’t feel jealous, and haven’t since. I know that Hunter and Bobbi were together before me, so they know each other better, and have that history. But I also know that they chose me back, and chose to have me in their life and their future even if it would be easier without me.”

“That’s adorable, and I’m happy for you, and I noticed you didn’t answer the group kiss question. I’m just kind of picturing you standing in a circle, arms around each other like in a huddle, pressing your mouths together awkwardly, and your tongues just kind of meeting in the middle.”

“That’s disgusting.”

“It’s your weird group kiss, not mine.”

“We take turns, Daisy.”

“Well, that’s certainly less fun.”

He rolled his eyes at her. 

“You are happy, though? You’re being taken care of, and they’re not rushing you into anything?”

“No, this is my decision. They’ve been so good to me.”

“Good. I will quake them to dust if they hurt you in any way. Be sure to tell them that.”

“I’m not going to do that. You don’t have to worry, anyway. I – I love them, Daisy, in a way that I didn’t think I’d have ever again, in a way that I’ve never had. It’s different than with Jemma, and it’s –” 

He saw Hunter peek around the corner of the doorframe, grinning manically.

“ Ahh , speaking of,” Fitz said, smiling at Hunter. He put the call on speakerphone. “Hunter’s here, if you wanted to say hi.”

“Oh! Hunter!” Daisy said, voice going tinny over the speaker. “How are you?”

“It’s good to hear your voice, love,” Hunter said.

“It’s so good to hear yours.”

“You’re alright, then?”

“I am,” she said. “I,  uhhh , have a boyfriend, and a sister.”

“You  _ what _ ?” Fitz asked.

“Yeah, our second stray is my half-sister, Kora. She’s Inhuman like me, and she’s intense, but she’s learning to control her powers, and she only tried to kill me, like once, which is a good average for my family.”

Fitz laughed and shook his head.

“Did I hear Daisy in here?” Bobbi asked, poking her head in too. 

“Hi Bobbi! Oh, I miss you.”

“I missed you!”

Bobbi snatched his phone and shooed them. 

“So,” Hunter said, taking Fitz’s hand and leading him out of the bedroom. “What was that about you loving us?”

Fitz took Hunter by the hips and pressing him into the wall in the hallway.

“Are you eavesdropping on me, Hunter?”

“You love us,” Hunter teased.

“Hunter,” Fitz started but trailed off as Hunter’s bright, honest eyes caught his, and Hunter was practically glowing. “I do love you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I do. I love you. I can’t wait to settle in with you and Bobbi here, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us.”

Hunter nuzzled into his neck and collar, making a gentle, happy noise into his skin. He loved how deceptively soft Hunter was, how he could be hard and fierce but Fitz had only had this side of him, holding him in the hallway of their new home while their girlfriend talked to his best friend. It was perfectly domestic, this love they were growing and nurturing. It was perfect. 

* * *

**_ One Year Later _ **

“You will not believe what we just got in the mail today,” Hunter said, coming back into the house. “Fitz, it’s for you.”

Fitz looked up from where he was fixing the stove, again. He’d tried to tell Bobbi they should just replace the thing, but she’d  somehow  become attached to it. So, he was buried in the bowels of the stove for the third time in as many months.

“What is it?”

“It’s from Jemma,” Hunter said. Fitz climbed off the ground, and stretched. Hunter held out a small package to him, which was clearly addressed in Jemma’s neat handwriting. Fitz hadn’t heard from her in over a year since he’d left the Lighthouse. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Fitz said, taking the package and setting it on the counter to open. “Daisy said we’d be receiving something. I thought it’d be from Daisy, but you know.”

“That would be a fair assumption.”

Fitz opened it and took her letter off the top.

_ Fitz _ ,

_ It’s been quite a while, and I didn’t think I’d ever have to write this letter. I didn’t imagine a time when I would write you a letter instead of turning to you and just telling you. It is still weird that you’re so far from me, and yet you’re here with me. It’s strange. I suppose I should have expected this kind of weirdness from our lives. I suppose this also falls on my shoulders. If I hadn’t decided to go out into the field, and take you with me, we wouldn’t be here. I’ve never regretted it, no matter what we went through. Because it gave us a good life together, and apart.  _

_ That brings us to this present.  _

_ We’ve designed a safer, smaller version of the Framework, as a kind of meeting spot for the team while everyone is out in the world. May is at the Academy, and Mack is at Headquarters, and Yo-Yo is out doing amazing things for the world with Piper and Davis, and Daisy is in space with Daniel and her sister. I’m in Scotland with my husband and child, and you have a home with Bobbi and Hunter.  _

_ I want to talk to you more, though, because even though I have my life here with your other and our daughter, and you have yours with them, you are still my best friend. I want to know about your day, and your life, and your work, and the life you’re building with them. I want to know you, Fitz, every single part of you. _

_ Anyway, I’ll be waiting for you. _

_ -Jemma _

Fitz took a neat box out of the package, and set it on the counter in front of them. 

“I have a date with Jemma Simmons,” Fitz said. 

“That’s good. I’m glad,” Hunter said. The best thing about Hunter was that he meant it, with his soft smile and open expression. The longer Hunter was away from mercenary work, the lighter he was becoming, and Fitz enjoyed seeing it every single day. “Tell her hi for me.”

“Yeah, I will.”

Later, when he was setting up in the spare room, Bobbi wandered in.

“Oven fixed?” she asked. “I wanted to make some muffins.”

“Oven’s fixed,” he replied.

“What’s going on here?”

“My other self created a Framework meeting place,” Fitz said.

“And you’re okay going in?” she asked, coming up behind him and wrapping him in her arms. He loved when she did that, reminiscent of their first night in the motel, Fitz sandwiched between them with Bobbi hugging him close from behind. “That’s not going to be too much for you?”

“No, it’ll be nice, good to not have it be something destructive. It’s a good use of the technology. It was never just the Framework that was the problem anyway,” he said. 

“ Ahh , the robot overlord girlfriend, yes,” Bobbi said, kissing his shoulder. “Well, luckily, if she appears suddenly, I’ll absolutely break her face in half.”

“I’d love to see that.”

“Come see me box at the gym tomorrow , then ,” she murmured in his ear.

“You’re not getting me to the gym,” he said.

“Mmm, but I only wear a sports bra and some shorts, baby. You’d love it.”

“Maybe don’t get me going before I have a catch-up date with my ex-fiancé, maybe.”

“I’ll do as I please. Just reminding you what you’re coming home to.”

“Oh, baby,” Fitz said, turning and kissing her on the lips. “I won’t forget that. How could I?”

He ran his hands down her sides to her hips. 

“You’re not jealous, though, are you?”

“I’m not jealous,” she said. “I know you’re mine.”

“Not exclusively,” Hunter called from the living room. 

“Not exclusively,” she echoed, “but I know you’re ours, and I know you’re a good man.”

He hummed.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t have a little fun with you first, just to prove you’re mine,” she said.

“But who will bake the muffins, and break the oven I just fixed?” he teased.

She tickled his sides and nipped his neck.

“Don’t be naughty, Fitz.”

“I’m not the one being naughty, Miss Sports Bra and Short Shorts.”

He nudged her away gently and she bounced away, heading for the living room.

“I’ll just play with Hunter while you have a quiet, sad, cry fest with your best friend. Come find us when you’re ready, baby.”

He rolled his eyes and finished the set up, and then logged in. He found himself in a bar he’d never been in before, Jemma sitting at the bar with her hair down. She was gorgeous, and there was something different about her that Fitz adored. She turned as he appeared, and she grinned.

“Fitz!” 

She hurried over to him and threw her arms around him. He held her close, lifting her up a little from the floor, and she giggled into his neck.

“Oh, Fitz, it’s so good to see you!”

“It’s so good to see you, Jem,” he said. 

He clung to her, and they stayed there for a while, Fitz memorizing this all over again. If he had it his way, he’d certainly never leave this place. Well, no, that’s not true. He’d like to go home to Bobbi and Hunter. 

“Okay, come here. Have a drink.”

She led him over to the bar and they sank into stools side by side. He looked around at the bar as Jemma passed him over a glass and a bottle of whiskey. 

“What is this place?”

“It’s, oh. Oh, you weren’t there. This is The  Krazy Kanoe , which is a SHIELD bar from when we were traveling in time.”

“Oh, Daisy told me about this,” he said, looking around. “I didn’t expect it to look like a speakeasy.”

She laughed.

“It is a little bit rough, but it’s special. We had a lot of, I wouldn’t call it fun, but we had a lot of moments here.”

Fitz nodded.

“Tell me about it,” he said. “Daisy’s told me about her experience, but you went through something, right? You willingly forgot your child to keep her safe, and that’s, Jemma, that’s amazing.”

“I did.  Uhm , can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“ Alya ,” Jemma said. “Our daughter.”

“Daisy’s told me about her quite a bit. She adores her.”

“She’s very good with her,” Jemma said. “You’re avoiding the topic.”

“You didn’t ask a question.”

“How do you feel about her? She’s technically your daughter, too. You’re her dad.” 

“She is, but I’m not her dad,” he said. 

“What do you mean?”

“My father biologically is my father, but he didn’t raise me or care for me, so he’s never been my dad. Biologically, she is my daughter, but I’m not her dad, Jemma. I wasn’t there when she was conceived, first of all. I wasn’t there the day she was born. I wasn’t there when she took her first steps, or said her first word. If she ever needs me, for anything, I will be there, but I am not her dad. Your husband is.”

She nodded, and put her glass down.

“Yeah, that makes sense. Would you like to meet her someday?”

“I would.”

She smiled and traced the rim of her glass.

“How are things with Bobbi and Hunter?”

“Good,” he said, his own smile reappearing thinking about them, about Bobbi making muffins in their kitchen, praying that she didn’t break the oven again, and Hunter teasing her from the counter about technique. They had friendly baking competitions that destroyed their kitchen, but Fitz always got goodies out of it so he certainly didn’t complain. “So good, actually. Hunter just got a promotion, and Bobbi’s research is coming along really well from what I'm hearing, and I’m this close to convincing her to buy a new oven instead of making me fix the one in our house.”

“Oh, you live together?”

“Yeah,” Fitz laughed, “since the day I left, actually. I met them in Arizona, and we drove to Massachusetts, and stayed in motels every night, and when we got to Boston, they had a house for us waiting.”

Jemma frowned.

“And you weren’t planning this before you left?”

“What? No. Of course not. They didn’t even know I was going to show up, and then I did. But luckily, we’ve always had room for each other, didn’t we? And I fit right in, like I’ve always belonged.” He could hear the saccharine sweetness in his own voice, and sighed. “You don’t have to worry about him, you know, the other me. He’s not going to leave you.”

“You did.”

“I did,” he agreed, “but you were already taken care of. You didn’t need me there with you, confusing you and muddling up your marriage. You didn’t need me there, Jemma, so when I left, nothing changed for you. But him, if he leaves, it would change everything, and he’d never do that. You mean the world to him.”

“I don’t understand the difference.”

“When I came back, you and him were a complete unit. It’s Fitzsimmons, you know, not Fitz-Fitzsimmons. You completed each other, just like you do now. Although, with a baby, I’m sure that’s changed a little, but anyway. I didn’t have a place there, not one where I was needed, and both me and him certainly didn’t want me there.”

“I did.”

“I know.” He took her hands in his own and squeezed. “I know. I wanted me there, but I didn’t want me and him there, which was the problem. But it killed me to walk away from you, Jemma, so I went to the one place, the people that I knew would understand. So, I left and I went to Hunter and Bobbi. They’d left us before, given up everything to keep SHIELD and the team safe, and if anyone understood what it meant and felt like, it would be them. And then, then it was just puzzle pieces slotting together. Hunter makes me laugh, and Bobbi gives wonderful hugs, and they know my order at Starbucks without me having to tell them, and they’re beautiful, not just physically, although Hunter was hot enough to make me realize I am bi.”

“Oh, congratulations.”

He laughed, and said, “they’ve done nothing but take care of me and help me realize that I’m not some spare part, some broken piece, some mistake. Even now, Bobbi’s making my favorite muffins and Hunter is ordering my favorite takeaway for when I’m done in case this goes terribly. If I log off, I have two of the most spectacular, giving people in the world to catch me and put me back together. And I’m so, so grateful for what you did, coming to get me, because it set me on the path to finding them. I know that wasn’t your intention, and I apologize for any hurt that caused you, but I am so incredibly happy, Jemma, I don’t regret it.”

“I don’t want you to, Fitz. I know, I can see how happy you are.”

“I am,” he replied. “It’s hard to believe I’m here, that when we stepped out in the field, all of this would happen. I didn’t know how I felt about you until we left the lab, and you almost died, and I realized I didn’t want to live without you. Which is a funny thing to say given that I have been.”

“Yeah,” she agreed without any heat or spite.

“I would have laughed if someone had told me I’d end up with them, but you’d still end up with me. But here we are. Somehow, despite everything, we made it, and in relatively one piece.”

“Some  of us in two pieces,” she said, gesturing to himself. “Two whole pieces.”

_ “ _ Yeah,” he said with a laugh. “How incredible our lives became.”

“How incredible,” she agreed, and then she made a surprised noise. “Apparently Alya would like my attention give she’s repeatedly tapping me on the shoulder.”

“I should get back to make sure the oven is in one piece still, anyway.”

“We should do this again,” she said. “Actually, we’ll be having a group team meeting here soon if you’d like to join. I included two more nodes for Hunter and Bobbi if you all would like to join us. I’m sure everyone will be delighted to see you all again.”

“That sounds great, we’d love that. I know they will. They miss you guys so much.”

“Okay, I’ll send you the details tonight after I put Alya to bed.”

“Looking forward to it,” he said with a smile.

“I’ll see you around, Fitz. Don’t be a stranger.”

“Love you, Jemma,” he said and she grinned.

“Love you, too,” she responded. 

Fitz reached up and twisted off the node at his temple. Then, he was back in the spare room, sitting on the bed. He could hear Hunter’s laugh and smell the muffins baking in the kitchen. He closed his eyes and took in this moment, all of his pieces finally slotted together, at home in his own skin, in his life. After everything that had happened, everything he’d endured, fought and sacrificed and survived, he was right where he was meant to be. 

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, wow. This was supposed to be half the length, but I'm a long-winded bitch so, you know. I just want to give a quick shout out to everyone who's been supportive of this fic and cheered me on and asked for quotes on tumblr. Y'all have been the best, and I couldn't have done this without you <3
> 
> -k


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